Epic Are The Days
by daysofinspiration
Summary: A haunting Slayer dream, an unravelling past, a battle with the ultimate evil, and a visit back home to Boston. Faith/Willow femslash.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: They belong to Joss, not me. As well, any familiar dialogue belongs to Joss et crew.

**Author's Note: **This one's gonna be a long one y'all. Enormous thanks to my beta for this beast. If it weren't for her I would have given up with it a long time ago.

**Prologue **

_She was running; her legs reaching, her arms pumping, her breath coming in short gasps. Something was chasing Faith, but she wasn't about to look and see what it was. She could hear its thundering footsteps as it followed her down the deserted streets. No one was out at this time of night. There was no one that could help her._

_She was out of shape; she hadn't done this in a long time. She could feel her insides screaming at her to stop and rest for a moment, but Faith couldn't do that. It would catch her._

_She pushed forward, weaving in between streetlights and ducking along alleys. But no matter where she went, how many turns and double-backs she made, she could hear the pounding of its feet on the pavement right behind her. It was getting closer now as Faith's mind began to panic and she focused less on where she was going. She couldn't outrun it, not right now. Faith needed to find somewhere to hide so that she could rest._

_She turned blindly down another empty alleyway, crashing into a trashcan and shoving it out of her way as she rounded the corner too sharply. _Damn it. Stop making noise, Faith! Keep moving! _she thought angrily._

_Faith skidded to a halt. The alley was a dead-end. _

_She looked around wildly, hoping to find another way out. There was a dumpster, a few cardboard boxes lining the brick walls of the alley, and a fire-escape leading up the side of a building. It would have to do._

_It didn't come right to the ground, so Faith ran a few steps and then leaped up, grabbing the bottom of the metal contraption. Heaving, she climbed the hanging straight-ladder and made it to the first landing. Glancing over the alley, she heard the pounding of its running feet closer than ever and its shadow growing as it neared the entrance of the alley._

_The window into the building was boarded up, so she had to keep moving. Faith climbed the first level of the fire-escape's stairs, its metal bars clanging as her boots fell heavily on them. Faith paused when she reached the next level. Where was she planning to go? Looking up, the metal cage seemed to go on forever up the side of the building. Faith couldn't see where it ended, and there was no telling if it would even lead to the roof. _

_The level she had stopped on had a door leading into the building. Go up or go in?_

_The shaking of the bars as her pursuer jumped and landed on the fire-escape took the decision from her. Faith shouldered the door twice before it broke open. She burst into the room and then turned quickly; closing and locking the door. She sagged against the wood, letting her lungs get some much needed air._

_Looking around the room Faith recognised the dingy furniture and peeling paint job. She was back in her room at the Sunnydale motel. The stained carpet, the dented bathroom doorframe, the shredded curtains; this was definitely her motel room._

_Wandering into the bathroom, Faith turned on the faucet and splashed some cool water onto her face. Her heart was still pounding loudly in her ears and her body was tense from the run. She needed to calm down. The water helped, at least slightly.  
_

_Faith turned off the tap and looked into the mirror above the sink. Covered in dirt and cracked in one corner, it still revealed her reflection. One half of the girl in the mirror was younger. She had wild and lustrous dark curls and a gleam of excitement in her eyes. The image was of Faith the last time she'd been here, four years ago._

_The other half of the reflection was how she looked now. Even with her tanned skin the red in her cheeks stood out from running so hard; her face looked older, more grown up and less like the untamed teenager she'd been when she'd first blown into town. She'd filled out a little more, but a lot of the muscle mass she'd developed from staking vampires every night had died away. You could only use the work-out equipment so much in a federal prison before people started noticing._

_The wind blew outside, rattling a tree branch against the window in the other room. Faith jumped at the sound._

"_You forgot about me," Mirror Faith said. "You forgot who I was and let me fade away."_

_Faith raised her eyebrows, what was mirror-girl talking about? "You mean the slaying?" she asked. "Kinda hard to keep that up when you're locked in an eight-by-ten cell every night."_

"_Not you, Faith. Me."_

"_I'm guessin' you're confused because – check it out, you are me."_

_Mirror Faith ignored her comment, "I'm not you, Faith. You know who I am."_

"_I do?" Confusion crowded Faith's face. She had a nagging feeling she should know who mirror-girl was, but her brain was moving sluggishly. The knowledge was there, but she couldn't reach it._

"_It's coming, Faith. The darkness. It comes from deep inside the ground. You have to be ready."_

"_What?"_

"_Save them, Faith, while you still can."_

"_Save who?" None of this was making sense to her. _

_Faith had no idea what was going on. It was like Faith represented her brain, and Mirror Faith represented her brain after a Mac truck had ploughed into it. Complete loss of communication. Who was this girl, why was she acting all-knowing, and if she _was_ someone else, why was she wearing two different halves of Faith's face?_

"_Look, either lose the cryptic or bust," Faith stated flatly. "Who are you?"_

"_I'm trapped here, I can't come out by myself; they won't let me. You have to get me out."_

"_Out of where?"_

"_Two clocks east."_

"_You what?"_

"_East, Faith, east of the fire."_

"_You aren't making any sense. Which kinda means I'm not making any sense, since you're me."_

_The girl in the mirror stared intensely at her, "Faith, listen. I'm not you. But I can help you."_

"_Why would I want…" then it hit her, who the other girl was, "Dani?"_

_The girl in the mirror nodded._

"_Dani?" Faith reached a hesitant hand towards the mirror, hoping to touch the other girl. Her fingertips only met cold glass. "Dani… how? How are… what… this isn't…?"_

"_It's coming, Faith."_

"_What is?"_

"_The darkness."_

"_What?"_

"_I can see how it ends. All of it; the battle, the game, all of it. But if you don't rescue me I can't help you." _

"_Dani, I don't understand."_

"_I can see it, Faith. And it's not happy. It wants to eat the world, swallow it up like little grapes on a vine. It's hungry for the power, and it's going to devour us all. From beneath you, Faith. From beneath you it devours. I can see it, I can help. But only if you ask the right questions."_

"_Uh… Okay, who devours what?"_

"_The end."_

"_The end-" An alarm began blaring outside, telling all that could hear that someone was trying to break into a nearby car. Faith glanced away from the mirror out of habit; loud noise, Slayer senses jump on high alert, "-of what?" Faith finished her sentence as she looked back at the mirror. But her reflection was gone. Now the only thing the mirror showed was the discoloured shower curtain hanging behind her._

"_Dani?" she whispered, but there was no reply._

_She wandered out of the bathroom, her mind attempting to understand what the girl in the mirror had tried to tell her. She knew it was important, but the words themselves didn't make any sense to her. _

_She sat down on the bed and glanced around the room, feeling like someone was watching her. The motel room was the same as she remembered it being, except the dark stain by the door. Faith was sure that was new._

_Sitting on the bedside table next to the clock and phone was a bowl of apples. Shrugging to herself, Faith reached over and grabbed one. She was hungry, so why not?_

"_Faith."_

_The brunette girl dropped the apple as she spun and leaped off the bed. "Christ, B. You scared the shit outta me."_

"_I can see," Buffy replied, "but I think you mean I scared the apples out of you." The way Buffy said the sentiment, she sounded amused. But her bland facial expression suggested otherwise._

"_Nice to see you too," Faith mumbled. "How'd you get in here? I thought the door was locked."_

"_I thought so too, but apparently not." Buffy looked different than Faith remembered. She was still the peppy, blonde Slayer, but she wasn't the same. Though that was expected, Faith hadn't seen Buffy since the blonde had chased her to L.A. and Faith had turned herself in to the police. That was three years ago._

_Buffy looked older, planer, and maybe a bit taller. She looked tired. She was still Buffy, but not the same Buffy. _

_Faith felt a headache coming on. Why was everything so confusing right now?_

"_Any particular reason you're here, B? Last I remember you didn't really like this place," Faith gestured around the room as she bent down to pick up the apple. She wiped it on her pants and, finding no dirt from the carpet stuck on it, deemed it edible._

"_Well, it seemed li – I wouldn't eat that if I were you."_

"_Huh?"_

_Buffy nodded towards the apple. "Watch out, the backyard's teeming with them."_

_Confused, Faith looked down at the piece of fruit in her hands. The apple was still there, but seeping from it was a thick, red liquid. The blood was dribbling down the apple's side and onto her hands. "Gah," Faith barked as she dropped the offending thing. It landed on the carpet and continued bleeding._

"_What the hell?"_

_Buffy shook her head, "I don't know. It happens sometimes. You win some, you lose some. But usually they bleed."_

"_We still talkin' about the apple?" Faith asked, wiping her hands off on her jeans._

"_What else would we be talking about? I prefer oranges to be honest. Those don't bleed."_

"_Oh-kay," Faith drawled, raising her eyebrows. Apparently Buffy had been kicked in the head a few times since they'd last seen each other, she'd totally lost it._

"_So, what are you doing here?" Faith asked again._

"_You mean you; what are _you_ doing here. I've always been here; you're the one that's come back."_

_Faith just nodded. She had no idea what the blonde Slayer was talking about, but it was probably better to just let Buffy talk it out rather than question her. _

"_We don't need you back, you know. I mean, it's nice of you to come and all. But we don't need you. I'm handling things just fine on my own."_

"_If you're doing so hot, why'd I feel the need to come back?" Faith asked, still playing along with Buffy's game._

"_Because, Faith, you're like a puppy. We tell you to leave, but you keep coming back. I could beat you with a roll of newspaper and you'd still come back."_

"_That hurt, B."_

"_So did you stealing my body, screwing my boyfriend, and trying to take over my life," the other girl replied, her voice rising with her anger. "Oh, and remember you joining the Mayor, poisoning Angel, and all around trying to kill us? That hurt too, Faith. You had your chance. You ruined it. I don't need you here."_

"_I was messed up, Buffy. I'm-"_

"_Making excuses," the blonde Slayer interrupted. "You tried to kill me Faith, sorry if I'm a little bitter."_

"_Yeah," Faith mumbled, "but I was the one with the knife through the gut."_

_Buffy took a step towards Faith; confidant and threatening. "Look, I'm done with you Faith. Go home. Go back to Angel. Go back to prison. I don't care what you do, but don't stay here. I can't deal with your crap right now."_

"_Buffy," Faith pleaded, "I know I hurt you; I hurt all of you. But I'm trying to make up for it, I'm trying to-"_

_Buffy's voice was low and seething, "I told you once before, Faith. Apologize to me, and I will beat you. To death. We clear?"_

_The brunette looked away. Buffy was right; she'd had her chance. She'd ruined it. Angel was wrong; there was no redemption for her. There was no way to make it right in Buffy's eyes. _

"_Why'd you come back, Faith? You intent on screwing up my life again; third time's the charm, isn't it."_

_Faith didn't answer. She didn't know why she was back._

"_Pathetic," Buffy laughed. _

_Faith was about to reply, but the sound of someone screaming outside caught hers and Buffy's attention. It wasn't just a scream; it was the kind of scream someone gives right before they're mauled to death. Faith had heard that scream before; it came with being the Slayer._

"_Suit up," Buffy said, walking to the door, "It sounds like the lady's calling for you."_

"_What?" Faith asked, standing up._

"_You're a Slayer. Go Slay. It's judgement time."_

"_And what are you going to do?"_

"_I have enough to worry about. I need to figure out how to protect the seals. Silly things, I don't know why they can't just swim away," Buffy replied as she shoved Faith out the motel door._

_Faith stumbled a moment on the pavement, the scenery of the alley-way having shifted to something new. When she'd righted herself she stood still, listening for the screaming. After a beat she heard it again. It was a girl, and she was screaming bloody murder. Faith hesitated a few seconds and then took off in direction of the calls for help. The motel was on the edge of the highway. She crossed the deserted roadway and made her way into the forest lining the road._

_As she drew closer to the source the cries became less like pleas for help and more like child-like wails. Whoever it was, they were terrified. Faith pushed forward, hoping to get there in time._

_The ground beneath her pounding feet shook, causing the Slayer to stumble. Faith landed hard on her knees. "Crap," she breathed out. Placing a hand on the ground, she could feel the earth shaking and rumbling. Something was stirring down there. _

_But that wasn't important right now. Getting to her feet, Faith looked around, trying to remember which direction she'd been heading in. She couldn't remember, and all the trees looked the same. _

_The screaming had stopped._

_Was she too late? Was the girl already dead? Faith picked a direction and started running again. She wasn't going to give up._

_Faith ran until she reached a clearing in the forest. She hadn't heard any more screaming and hadn't felt anything from her Slayer senses. She slowed her pace until she was at a walk; she had no idea where she was going. _

_The sound of wood snapping behind her caught her attention. Turning quickly, she saw a large, beautiful tree in the middle of the clearing. Its trunk reached up incredibly high before gracefully splitting into branches and drooping down again. Its leaves were a pale green in the moonlight. It was stunning._

_The nagging feeling was back. This time it told her she should know what kind of tree this was. That this was important._

_The crackling continued from underneath the bark until the trunk of the tree burst into flames. Faith jumped back, not expecting it. The fire spiralled out, claiming the bigger branches and spreading down the smaller ones until it reached the tips. The blaze continued; first glowing red then orange and yellow as it grew hotter. The branches and leaves cracked and singed as they dried up. The burnt pieces began to break off; making it look like the tree was crying fire. It was beautiful to look at; Faith was transfixed._

_Faith stood a long time watching the burning until the fire had exhausted itself and went out. All that was left was an empty shell of the tree's initial beauty. Now it was just a burnt trunk with black-singed branches._

_The Slayer was a little startled by the display and questions raced through her head. Had the thing hurting the screaming girl also set the tree on fire? Or was this a completely separate thing? Why couldn't she recall what kind of tree it was? Why was it important she knew the type of tree?_

_And the obvious, why exactly was the tree on fire?_

_While Faith contemplated, the tree continued its display. It was far from over. Mystified, Faith watched as little green buds began to spring up from the burnt tree's branches. Like little bits of hope they grew until the tree was covered in tiny buds._

A magic tree that burst into flames, dies, and then comes back to life again? What the hell?_ she thought._

"_It's like the phoenix, isn't it?"_

_Faith jumped. She hadn't even noticed the woman standing beside her; she'd been too captivated by what was happening with the tree. Backing away and dropping into a defensive crouch, Faith faced the stranger._

"_Oh, none of that," the woman laughed. "I'm not someone you should be worried about."_

_Faith's eyes narrowed._

_The woman sighed dramatically, "Really, the fighting stance isn't necessary. Do I really look that threatening?"_

_No, Faith realized, she didn't. The woman looked old, extremely old. Her skin was wrinkled and leathery, and her eyes held the knowledge of someone who's lived on past their years. Even her hair, long, white and cascading down past her shoulders, looked old and brittle. She wore a faded green dress and in one hand held a fancy looking axe, which dangled at her hip in the woman's loose grip._

_The axe looked about as sharp as they come, with a red hilt, blade at one end and a wooden stake at the other, but the woman didn't look like she'd be able to put up much of a fight. Faith eased out of her crouch; if this woman was a threat, Faith was sure she could take her, even without a weapon._

"_Were you the one screaming?" Faith asked, still cautious._

"_I didn't hear anyone screaming."_

"_Earlier," Faith clarified. "It sounded like someone was calling for help."_

"_They weren't calling for my help, Faith, so I couldn't hear them. Whoever they were, they were calling for you. Unless… maybe it was you calling for help."_

"_Right," the brunette answered sceptically._

"_It is like a phoenix though, isn't it," the woman said, looking over at the tree. The buds were opening and small leaves were beginning to form. "Consumed by its own fire, and then born again. Like the creature, this tree has been through a lot. I've been watching over it for some time now. It grew comfortable with the darkness, but found its way out again."_

"_I feel like I should know somethin' about it, like what kind of tree it is. It seems so familiar."_

_The old woman's eyes twinkled, "Then perhaps you should. Think harder, I'm sure it will come."_

"_Who are you exactly," Faith asked, eyeing the axe the woman held at her side._

"_A shepherd of sorts, I guard and watch over things very old. I am someone who makes sure things go according to plan; make sure the proper bees move up the line in the hive. I am one of many."_

_The woman turned to look back at Faith, taking in her appearance, "I'm always surprised at how adolescent you are. All of you, so young. None of you are ever prepared. But you, Faith, are powerful. Winning is up to you. Take hold of the power given to you."_

"_What?" Faith laughed. It seemed like everyone she was meeting tonight was out of it, no one was giving her straight answers. First Dani and her cryptic messages, then Buffy and her bleeding fruit. Now this old woman and her bizarre axe. Faith's eyes flicked to the silverware; the woman may not look like a fighter, but the fact that she was carrying a weapon still made Faith a little uneasy._

_The woman held up the axe, its metal surface glittering in the moonlight. "I see it has caught your attention. It's very special."_

"_It's an axe," Faith replied flatly. "A fancy looking one, but it's still an axe. Not that special."_

"_It's a weapon, a powerful one. Go on," the woman said, holding it out to Faith, "Take it. You'll put it to good use."_

"_It's not mine," Faith said instinctively. She could feel it inside her. The axe had a loud call, rumbling inside her head, but she knew it wasn't hers to take._

"_It can be. It's not yet anyone else's. You shouldn't deny it." The woman held the axe out further, almost pushing it into Faith's hands._

_Faith recoiled, stepping back. Something wasn't right. The axe felt familiar, like it was a part of her, but at the same time it felt wrong. So very wrong._

"_You have to learn who to trust, Faith. You know you cannot trust yourself."_

_Faith stepped back again. Glancing down, the Slayer found she was standing on the edge of a cliff, the forest around her gone. Her feet were almost at the edge; the rock was flat under her feet and then jutted sharply down the incline. Faith didn't dare look over her shoulder, she didn't want to know how far down the drop was._

_Red-brown dirt stretched out in front of her in all three directions. Further away Faith could see a deserted road, black and sharp amongst the dull colours. They were in a desert somewhere; she could see heat waves rising up from the road._

"_It's a test Faith, and right now you're not passing."_

_The wind was picking up, blowing the woman's white hair about her face. "Take the scythe, Faith," the woman urged._

"_I can't!" Faith replied stubbornly. Something inside her screamed that none of this was right. The woman, the cliff, the axe. It was all terribly wrong, some sort of dark, twisted hallucination she couldn't escape._

_Faith watched, horrified, as the woman began to shift, transforming into someone else. The figure loomed over Faith, forcing her closer to the edge._

"_You could never do anything right, could you?" The new person asked. She was tall, thin, and had long, chocolate brown hair. She stank of cheap alcohol and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked at Faith with murder in her eyes._

_And Faith stood frozen as her mother raised the axe high above her, intent on bearing it down on Faith's head._

* * *

Faith awoke with a start, sitting up in her bunk and bumping her head on the ceiling. "Damn it," she cursed under her breath.

Wide-eyed, the Slayer looked around, the fog of sleep not yet clearing. She was still in prison, still in her cell, still sleeping in the bunk above Angie. She wasn't back in Sunnydale. She wasn't eating a bleeding apple. And her mother wasn't about to hack her to bits with a fancy-looking axe.

"Slayer dream," Faith mumbled as she lay back down, sleep already claiming her.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Slight cross-over with the Angel episode Orpheus.**  
****  
Chapter 1**

_- one week later_

A cool breeze blew by, picking up the leaves on the ground and swirling them through the air before scattering them further along the path. They settled aimlessly on the ground before another gust swept them up again. These leaves didn't dance happily in the air as the wind picked them up, they were just tossed about like the dying bits of matter they were.

Faith sat on one of the benches in the garden. She had been sitting there for some time, and the coldness of the stone underneath was starting to creep into her body. She shivered slightly but didn't move to get up to try and warm herself up.

The Slayer was directionless.

She sat; her mind going in circles as her hands carelessly toyed with a knife. She'd toss it, it'd spin, it'd fall, she'd catch it, she'd roll it along her knuckles, and then she'd toss it again. The knife allowed her to fidget as her mind began dwelling on none-too happy thoughts.

A heavy, broken sigh escaped her lips. What was she supposed to do now?

Faith knew where she wanted to be, the choice was easy. If it were up to her, she'd be out of L.A. and headed well into the east. She didn't remember everything from the Slayer dream she'd had, it had all blurred together when she'd tried remembering it in the morning; but she knew Dani had been there. She remembered that.

And that was significant. If Dani was making an appearance in her dreams, something was definitely wrong. Dani was supposed to be safe.

If Dani was in danger…

Faith shook her head. Dani was safe. She had to be. That was the agreement. That was the promise Faith had made long ago.

But even if Dani was in danger, Faith couldn't go to her. The choice to leave wasn't exactly hers to make. Yes, she could skip town. No one had the power to make her to stay. No one could stop her from leaving.

Except maybe her guilt.

Could she do that to Angel? Could she skip out on him after he'd put so much trust in her?

No. Faith couldn't do that to him.

She cared a lot for the ensouled vampire. He'd been one of the few who hadn't followed an all too familiar pattern in her life; leaving. He'd been there for her; there for her when she'd broken down and asked for help, and there for her to help begin her quest for redemption. It seemed like Angel genuinely cared about Faith's wellbeing.

Seemed, as in past tense.

Not that Faith was bitter. She wasn't Angel's responsibility. He wasn't obligated to stop by the prison to keep her company. He had his own life to lead. And apparently he'd been leading it. Angel and his crew were big with the demon hunting now. Major heroes, champions of the good. And with that came the responsibility. Faith could see how fractured they were, so close to falling apart. Wes had been desperate in coming to her for help. Angel's life had gotten busy as he tried to defend the world from the nasty beasts of the night, the fact that his visits had tapered off were expected.

Faith figured she only had three real options: go to Dani, go back to prison, or stay here. The latter was extremely unlikely. She was a murderer. She had no right to ask to stay here. No right to help them out. This thing – this helping Angel get back on track – it had been a onetime operation. She owed the big guy for helping her out; she was helping him find himself like he'd helped her. But there was nothing permanent in the situation. She had overstayed her welcome.

But Faith wasn't sure how to bring up the topic of returning to prison. She didn't want to go back, but that was the right thing to do, wasn't it? She was supposed to be serving her sentence right now.

But how was she supposed to go back? She was an escaped felon; it was unlikely she could turn herself in like she had a few years earlier. And there were security cameras. How could she get herself back to prison without somehow involving Wes and getting him in trouble? He hadn't broken her out, but he hadn't stopped her from escaping either. He'd been her accomplice. That would be how they'd see it. That would be how they'd convict him. Faith was sure the only reason they hadn't tracked her down through Wes was because of the whole panic about the city when the Beast blocked out the sun.

So, where exactly did this leave her?

It left her with needing to go see Dani. To go get Dani, bring her back. But bring her back to where? Faith had no money, no home, and no car. Even if she did make it there, how was she supposed to care for Dani when she couldn't even care for herself?

Again, where did this leave her?

It left her sitting there, in the garden of the Hyperion, tossing a knife in the air. Basically, whatever Angel and Co. decided to do with her, she'd comply. Faith felt she had no right to do otherwise.

The brunette felt a tingle in her stomach. _Vampire_ her mind alerted her immediately. It was probably just Angel; the big guy was probably fully rested after their mind-trip and was now walking about the hotel, most likely cleaning up the mess they'd made earlier.

This time when Faith caught the knife she didn't continue the cycle. Her hand paused in mid-air. _That's not Slayer senses,_ Faith thought. _That's the regular old 'someone's watching me' tingle._

Faith turned her head slightly. Willow. The redhead had stepped into the garden but had obviously halted when she'd spotted Faith sitting a few feet away.

"Red."

Willow gave a tired smile and stepped further into the garden. She then paused, saying, "Sorry. I… I can come back later. You look pretty deep in thought. I'll just go, maybe talk with Fred some more about that spell I mentioned to her earlier. She seemed pretty interested in-"

"It's fine Red."

"No, really. I mean, you just woke up from a coma. Again. I'm sure you'd rather be alone for a while." The Willow-babble was in full force. Faith hadn't heard this in a long time. But this wasn't the excited _my mouth can't keep up with my mind _babble she remembered from her short stay in Sunnydale. This sounded strained and anxious, as if Willow was worried about something.

"Willow, sit."

The redhead complied, carefully making her way over to the Slayer and sitting on the stone bench next to her. She opened her mouth to say something, but then seemed to think better of it and close it again. They lapsed into silence.

Faith shook her head slightly, "You wanted somethin'?"

"Mm, yeah, I…" Willow sighed heavily, but didn't continue.

The brunette Slayer turned and looked at her companion. Willow looked nervous. Faith wasn't surprised. None of them were comfortable around Faith anymore. She was a killer. She'd gone after all of the Scoobies… as well as most of Angel's crew. Why should they be comfortable around her?

"Red? I can't read minds here."

"Right, sorry. It's just…"

Taking a closer look though, Faith didn't see discomfort on Willow's face. What she saw instead was… defeat. Willow looked defeated. She was afraid of something, but it wasn't Faith.

_Didn't she mention something about a new Big Bag back in Sunnydale?_

It looked like Willow paused to organise her thoughts before continuing, "Have you thought about… about where you're going?" Willow's pitch rose on the last word, like she was hoping for a particular answer.

_What exactly does she want me to say? _

"Yeah… not really a whole lot of options. No way Queen C'd let me stay here. No way Angel'd let me take off. I'm guessing I gotta go back to prison. I didn't exactly finish my time in the lovely Women's Correctional."

"Faith you… you don't have to… I mean… have you… have you considered coming back? …To Sunnydale?"

Once Faith had deciphered the redhead's fragmented phrasing her mind went into a whirlwind. Flashes of Buffy's face, being in the motel room, telling Faith she wasn't needed back in Sunnydale. All of it from the dream. Buffy's voice rang inside the brunette's head.

"_I've always been here; you're the one that's come back."_

"_We don't need you back, you know. I'm handling things just fine on my own."_

Faith gave Willow a long, guarded stare. There was no way she was going to let herself even consider going back. She knew she wasn't wanted.

Faith had never taken the Slayer dreams seriously. Buffy seemed to think they meant something, but Faith didn't think her bizarre dreams were prophetic in any way; just random crap that began cycling through her head after she'd been beat on by vamps one too many times.

_That dream happened right before Wes came to get me out,_ Faith coincidence, but nothing more; it had to be. Sunnydale? Was that really an option? It seemed unlikely.

Willow seemed to take Faith's silence as a negative answer to her question, "I know the last time you were there was… not so great. But," Willow's shoulders drooped, "we could really use your help."

Again, Faith contemplated the girl sitting in front of her. Willow looked exhausted. Some of it was from the magical battle with the Beast Master, but judging from the way the redhead seemed to be deflating in front of her, Faith guessed most of it was from worrying about whatever was going on back in Sunnydale. Willow looked pale, paler than what Faith would consider normal for the girl. She had dark circles under her eyes, probably from a lack of sleep combined with large amounts of time spent staring at research books. She wore a hopeful smile, hopeful that Faith would come with her, but it didn't reach her eyes.

And her eyes. If Willow's eyes summed up her entire attitude, then Faith wasn't sure she wanted to go back with the redhead, because Willow's eyes told Faith that the girl in front of her was very close to giving up completely.

"That bad?"

Willow just shrugged and turned away, gazing at one of the plants in the garden. "Yeah, it's bad. We're slipping, and Buffy…"

"_You tried to kill me Faith, sorry if I'm a little bitter."_

"Would kick my ass if I showed up back in Sunnydale." Faith finished. _Doesn't matter how bad it is, _she thought, _B made it pretty clear. I'm not wanted back there. Ever._

Faith was about to suggest Willow look somewhere else for help when the witch turned back to her and met Faith's eyes. _Shit. I've never seen her look so… like that. I've never seen _anyone_ look like that. So… so… broken._

"Willow-"

"I don't know who else to turn to, Faith. We need another Slayer; we need you. I can't… I can't keep pretending that its fine and it will all work out. We're not fighting to win anymore, Faith. We're just fighting to stay alive."

_And she wants to drag me into that? How thoughtful of her._ "Another Slayer? B ain't enough?"

"Buffy's not… she's not herself anymore." Willow gave a sad smile. "There are a lot of complicated things going on right now, not just the thing that's trying to kill us, and I think the pressure of being the leader is getting to her. Faith, I'm not asking you to come back all cheery smiles and willing to take over for Buffy until she gets better, I know that won't happen. I'm simply asking you to help out; offer another pair of hands and be a fresh set of eyes."

Faith wasn't really sure what to make of that. Willow hadn't mentioned what exactly it _was_ they were fighting, or why she couldn't ask Angel and the gang to help out.

_Probably because she can see they have their hands full here. And my hands are basically empty right now._

"I know this is putting you in an awkward place, Faith. Think it over. I'm… I'm leaving in an hour."

_If they're desperate enough to ask _me_ for help, how am I supposed to say no? It's so bad there that bubbly, cheery Willow can't even form a smile?_

_But how am I supposed to do it? Go back? I know I'm not wanted there; B's made that pretty clear. Christ, she's gonna kill me if I go back. It's probably a ploy, convince Faith to come back to we can take a break from Big Bad killin' and have some fun beating on Faith instead._

Willow stood and turned to go, but looked back at Faith at the last second, "If it helps… I forgive you. For everything that happened."

Faith's head shot up at that, "What?"

"I forgive you. It's all in the past now. I can't judge you for what you did anymore. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I forgive you Faith."

_That means a lot, coming from her. Shit. _"I'll go."

Faith watched the small smile tug at the witch's lips. "Thanks."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Well, this isn't going too bad, _Willow though as she drove down the highway. The road was fairly empty, which was nice. Willow wasn't a fan of driving in traffic. Luckily, after the whole ordeal with the sun being blocked out, the people of Los Angeles seemed to be tucked safe in their homes and not out on the road. Though it was pretty late at night; it wasn't until after sunset that she and Faith had left the Hyperion and they'd been on the road for about a half an hour.

_I helped stop that_, Willow realized as she thought about what had transpired a few hours ago. All that magic rushing through her again, the darkness pulling on her, calling her in; she'd been able to keep control of the magic. It was almost smile worthy; she's been so scared lately of losing all her center. It was nice to know, especially now, while they were trying to defeat The First, that she had some control.

She'd almost lost it, and it had been scary as hell, but the minimal ego boots felt nice.

Faith had been in a good mood when they'd left the hotel. After the little bout of depression Faith had been feeling in the garden, she seemed to have perked up quite a bit once the car started moving. They had talked a little about Angel and his gang, Faith filling Willow in more on the reason behind removing Angel's soul. They'd also discussed the newer trends in music when Willow had turned the radio on and Faith didn't recognize anything, but Willow figured that came with being in prison for a few years. You fall behind on things.

"So, Red, what's your motive for dragging me back to Sunnyhell? Fill me in; you said this thing is a Super Big Bad?" Faith asked as she fidgeted in her seat, leg tapping to the beat of the music in the background.

"You remember The First, right?"

"First what?"

"_The_ First. The First Evil. It tried to get Angel to kill himself-"

"At Christmas," Faith finished, remembering. "Yeah. It back?"

"Yes," Willow sighed.

"Sounds like the regular deal for you guys, why's it got you so spooked?"

Willow didn't answer right away; she didn't have an appropriate response. "Because it's the strongest thing we've ever faced, and we faced a Hell Goddess a few years ago. The First is just… it's the ultimate source of evil, Faith; it's the first evil that ever walked the Earth. It's trying to erase the Slayer line so it can take over. It's going after the Potential Slayers and their Watchers, so that there is nowhere for the Slayer line to go after it…"

"Does it in with Buffy and me."

"Yeah," Willow said, glancing at Faith and then looking back at the road. "We've got some of the Potentials living with us now, maybe twenty of them. The First destroyed The Council and went after the Watchers, so any Potentials still alive are making their way to Sunnydale."

"Twenty teenage girls in that house; must be cramped."

"Plus all the Scoobies, and Spike and Andrew."

"Jeez Red, full house."

"We're trying to keep everyone safe; it's just easier if we're all together. A lot of people in town have already left. They know something's coming."

"Mrs. S must be feelin' the pain, having to deal with you all."

Willow's hands tightened on the steering wheel. _Right_, she reminded herself, _Faith's been out of touch, she doesn't know anything._ "Faith…"

"What?"

"Joyce… died two years ago. She had a brain aneurism."

"Shit. Oh God, Willow, I'm sorry."

"You didn't know, not your fault."

The two lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. The radio continued to play quietly in the background, but Willow didn't hear it. She focused on the road, forcing the memories to stay back.

"You said Spike?" Faith asked after close to ten minute of not speaking. "Spike's living with you?"

"Yeah. He helped out a lot when Buffy… he's on our side now."

"B's got a real soft spot for vamps, don't she?"

The wheel jerked slightly in Willow's hand, "You could, um, say that."

"No way," Faith exclaimed, fully entertained now and easily reading into what Willow's reaction suggested. "You're kidding me; Buffy shacked up with Spike? Spike the vampire? William the Bloody? Shit, she's crazier than me."

Willow smiled, "Don't say that to her though, please. Spike's a… a sensitive issue. He's got a soul now."

"Damn. I mean, Angel was one thing bu-" Faith was cut off by a very loud rumble.

Willow turned to look at her driving companion, "Goddess, what was that?"

The witch watched as Faith's face seemed to darken slightly before she replied, "Nothin'." Unfortunately for the brunette, the rumble sounded again.

"Faith… Faith was that your stomach?"

"It's fine, Red."

"No," Willow shook her head, "Faith, if you're hungry we can pull over and get something."

"Nah," Faith said, stretching out in her seat, "You said you wanted to be there as soon as possible. I'm fine."

_Like hell._ If Faith had just woken up from her coma a few hours ago, and had been slaying and brutally beaten by Angelus before that, it was understandable that her metabolism was demanding food. Slayer healing required fuel. "When's the last time you ate something."

Faith actually seemed to ponder the question.

"You don't remember?"

"I'm fine, Willow, really. Just keep driving."

Willow ignored her. The next off-ramp was just up ahead, so Willow got off the highway and pulled into the parking lot of the nearest rest-stop. "Burgers okay?" The place looked like a run-down diner, but it was better than nothing.

Faith was turned away from her, looking out the passenger window; her cheery mood from earlier was gone. "Willow, you said you didn't want to be gone from Sunnydale that long, we don't have to stop and eat, I can wait."

Willow sighed in response, "I can't bring you back starving and useless can I? Where's the fun in that? We'll be half an hour, tops."

That earned a smile. Faith shifted and looked at the redhead, "Red, I don't… I can't exactly… pay."

"Yes, well, I figured that. I'm buying, don't worry about it. You coming back with me is payment enough. Come on; let's get you something to eat before some demon thinks your stomach is a mating call."

"Ouch, Red. Nice comeback."

The two got out of the car and made their way into the diner. While waiting behind the only other person in line Willow smiled to herself. It felt nice to be able to joke with Faith; true humour had been scarce in the Summers' residence these last few months. Sure, having Faith back would make things even tenser, but it would be nice to have a familiar face among all the new girls. New girls who were scared out of their minds because their supposed leaders didn't even know how to stop the most current evil.

They found a booth near the back of the place to eat, Faith with her burger, fries, wings, and a coke; Willow a milkshake. Faith had initially tried to order just fries, insisting that would be enough, but Willow reassured her that she had enough money to cover the Slayer's appetite.

"Any other major bits of info you want to fill me in on?" Faith asked as she dribbled ketchup from the packet onto her fries.

Willow shook her head, "A lot has changed since you left Faith, but none of it really matters now."

That seemed to satisfy the brunette for the moment as she began eating. Faith was obviously trying to be polite and not dig into her food, but Willow could tell the girl was hungry. She was glad she'd stopped to get them something.

After a few moments, Willow, who had been sipping her milkshake and staring out into the parking-lot, noticed Faith glancing up at her a few times. "What?"

"Willow… B knows I'm comin' back, right?"

_Oh crap,_ Willow thought to herself. "Um… well, not exactly. I mean, yes, just in the sense that, um, I didn't exactly… tell her… Or any of them."

"So the brilliant plan to bring me back was purely your idea. They've got no clue?"

"No," Willow squeaked out.

Faith sighed, long and heavy. Then she went back to finishing her burger.

"Faith?"

"You should have given them a heads up, Red. I mean… it's me. I know how it is. Last time I saw Buffy, it wasn't exactly on good terms."

"When you, um," Willow stumbled over her words, "turned yourself in?"

Faith nodded. The dark-haired Slayer looked… Willow wasn't sure what the word was for the way Faith looked was. Just… wrecked. The wild side, the fight she remembered in the girl was gone.

"I told you, a lot's happened. It's in the past now. Buffy has more pressing issues to deal with." Willow said knowingly.

"I fucked up, Willow. I fucked up her life, all your lives. B's not gonna let me into Sunnydale without a fight, you know that. I'm a murderer; you think she'll just happily let me loose around those Potential girls, pretend like nothing's happened?"

Willow frowned. What Faith said would have been a valid point a few years ago, but not now. "Buffy's really good at pretending nothing's happened. We all are," Willow could hear the bitterness in her own voice. But it was true, all of them, even she, pretended that some of the things in the past hadn't happened, not out of forgiveness, but simply out of the fact that they couldn't deal with it right now. Xander leaving Anya, Anya becoming a demon and killing people, Giles going to England, Buffy's death, Spike's attempt at rape, even her own stint on the dark side, it didn't matter now. It couldn't matter now. "And trust me, it doesn't matter how bad you are, as long as you're not aligned with The First, you're on our side."

Willow hadn't been looking at her companion during her little speech. She'd been looking out the window, effectively avoiding eye contact. But now she looked at Faith, almost pleadingly. "I know it's hard Faith, trust me. I know you and Buffy don't… It doesn't matter now. Take my word for it, you could have been the most evil thing in existence a few months ago, but they need you now, so you have to pretend everything's all right."

She watched Faith blink a few times, comprehension appearing on her features. "Are we still talking about me?"

Willow looked away again, her eyes roaming the nearly empty diner. It was late, and they were just off the highway outside L.A. Not a whole lot of people out. Perfect atmosphere for a heart-to-heart.

Did she want to admit this to Faith, what had happened with her? Sure, she'd openly and lightly offered a line about what had happened with the magics to Cordelia and Wesley, but she knew them. They were friends. Faith… what was Faith? An enemy turned alley?

But Faith had been there, hadn't she? She'd danced with the darkness and somehow made it out okay. That had to mean something.

"I-I'm not really sure." Willow answered quietly.

"You want to talk about it?" Faith asked and then seemed to think better of it. "Nah," she continued. "You probably don't. Not… not with me, anyway."

"How do you do it?" Willow whispered.

"Do what?"

"Get up every morning. How long before the guilt stops trying to swallow you whole?"

When she didn't hear a response Willow dragged her eyes back over to the other girl. Faith was studying her, trying to decipher the meaning to what Willow had said. She could see Faith's question of _what happened_ written plainly in her dark brown eyes.

"You could, uh, say we have something in common now." The redhead saw Faith's lip twitch. _I bet she wants to argue that I'm nothing like her. I'm too much of a goodie-good to be anything like her. _But Faith remained silent, holding back whatever remark she was going to say and let Willow speak.

And Willow did speak. She told Faith everything. She filled Faith in about what happened leading up to and including Buffy's death, how they'd all fallen apart after, bringing Buffy back. She talked about how Buffy seemed to have changed; how they'd realized they'd pulled her from Heaven not Hell like they'd thought. She touched on the Xander-Anya thing, feeling it wasn't her story to tell. She mentioned how Giles felt about leading Buffy too much, and how he'd gone back to England.

Then, after squeezing her eyes shut and taking a deep, shuddering breath, Willow told Faith about Tara. It was a hard thing to do; not the talking to Faith part of it, but the talking in general. Everyone in Sunnydale had been there when it had happened; there wasn't a whole lot to explain about. And everyone in England was more focused on getting her better than hearing her story about why she'd lost control.

But the Slayer sitting across from her took it all in silently. She listened as Willow opened up for the first real time about her downward spiral. How she had only been trying to fix things, how it all had gotten out of hand, how she had stopped for Tara, and then how Tara had been taken from her and Willow's subsequent actions. Willow admitted to killing Rack, Warren, and how she chased after Andrew and Jonathan, terrorized Anya, nearly killed Xander, almost destroyed Dawn, taken down Buffy and beaten Giles to a pulp.

A stray tear made its way down the redhead's cheek but she pressed on. She needed to keep going now that she'd started; she couldn't stop. No one ever wanted to talk about it. When she'd returned from England, Tara's name was like a curse. Whenever it was spoken they'd all look to see if Willow was about to rip them to pieces. Willow tried talking to them, tried to explain what had really happened to her with them, but they didn't want to hear it. Like she'd told Faith, it was easier for them to pretend it hadn't happened.

When Willow had finished, talking a bit about her stay in England and her cold reception when she'd returned home, she dropped her eyes to the tabletop. Her hands were shaking in her lap, and the tears from remembering all the bad things were fighting to spill over. She felt exposed, like she had told Faith her weak spot and was now awaiting the blow.

_Why did I open up to her? Why did I think she would care?_

"Christ, Willow," Faith finally breathed out.

"Yeah… I kind of… fell apart."

"No offense, but I never would have expected it'd be you to go off the deep end."

"In all honestly, neither did I," the witch sighed.

"I guess I should answer your question then." When Willow raised her eyes in confusion, the brunette continued, "How do I do it? Not let the guilt swallow me whole. I'm not really sure. I guess I just… I know that whatever happened, I have to make up for it. The guilt is the punishment. It hurts like a bitch, but you're not allowed to complain. You just have to accept it and… and move on. I don't have any real words of wisdom for you."

Willow nodded sadly. _So this feeling will never go away, will it?_

After a moment of neither of the two speaking, Willow almost missed Faith murmuring to herself, "It was a willow tree."

"What"

Faith looked up, not realizing she'd spoken out loud, "Nothing. Just something from a dream a few days ago. Ready to head out?"


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Stopping for a burger can't have changed the timeline that much, can it?  
In case you were unaware, the answer is yes, yes it can.

**Chapter 3**

They had passed the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign about five minutes ago and already Faith was getting jumpy. This was not a good idea. Coming back was probably the worst idea imaginable. Yeah, she'd proved herself to Angel and his crew when she'd taken the Orpheus drug to save him, nearly killing herself in the process. And yes, maybe Willow forgave her because she'd just gone through a similar jump off the deep end and empathized with Faith. But the rest of the amigos in Sunnydale? Faith was not expecting them to jump for joy at seeing her. And the fact that it was going to be a surprise reunion and not a planned one only made her more nervous.

Why had she agreed? How had the little redhead managed to convince her to come back? How in the world was she -

Willow's sudden, "Oh. That doesn't look good," interrupted Faith's pity party.

The Slayer focused on the scene ahead of them; flashing red and blue lights. Three cop cars were parked up ahead, and Faith could make out a few figures setting up a roadblock.

It was completely understandable that Faith felt her heart jump into her throat.

"Red?" Faith fought to hide the quiver in her voice.

"Don't, don't panic yet," Willow said softly. "This could be totally unrelated to your escaped convict status."

_And yet she keeps driving towards 'em. Please, please let it be a car accident and not a stakeout to catch me._

Slouching down slightly in her seat, Faith studied the scene they were approaching, approaching way too quickly for her liking. A few cops were setting up the roadblocks, some were pacing along the stretch of road and a couple stood off to the side, radioing in whatever it was they were investigating. They didn't seem all too interested in the car approaching.

Faith felt herself calm down marginally.

Willow stopped the car in front of the roadblock and as one of the officers approached Willow's window, Faith flipped up the collar on her dark denim jacket and turned towards her own pane of glass. Resting her head on the cool glass and allowing her hair to fall in front of her face, the brunette feigned sleep.

"Good idea," she heard Willow whisper before she rolled down the window and addressing the man, "Evening, officer. What's the roadblock for?"

"I'm afraid that's classified information, Miss. If you turn back, there's a detour set up a little ways from here."

"Oh, I drove through here just a little while ago," Willow lied. "The road was open then."

_Willow, why are you still talking to him? He said leave. Let's leave, hmm?_

"Just set it up. If you'd come through a half an hour earlier, you would have probably been the ones that found her."

Faith tried to hold back the snort. _So, if we hadn't stopped for food, we wouldn't be dealing with this then, would we? "Where's the fun in that," she said, "We'll be half an hour, tops." Great going, Willow. By now LAPD's probably given the Sunnydale cops a heads up about me, seeing as how this is the place it all happened. They probably assumed this'd be the first place I'd go. Great. See ya, Red. Sorry I couldn't be any help._

"Found her? Someone was hurt?"

_Or not._

"Oh, um, yeah. Teenage girl. Look, this is an on-going investigation, I'm not at liberty to discu-"

"You can tell us. We won't tell anyone," Faith head the redhead press.

_Okay, what the hell Willow?_

"You won't? Right, you won't." Faith heard something in the man's voice change. It seemed to go flatter, more monotone, as if he were in a trance.

_Red's working her mojo? On a cop? Damn, that girl's got balls._

"Tell us. Please."

"A couple driving out of town found her, a teenage girl. Burn marks on her neck and a stab wound to the stomach. She's at the hospital right now."

"Was she conscious?"

"Slipped in and out while the ambulance was loading her up. Couldn't make out all of it, but she kept repeating the words: message, revello and slayer. Poor kid. Um, who are you again?"

_Ah,_ Faith thought, _Red's intuition is much better than mine apparently._

"Just passing through, we'll head back to that detour now. Thanks." Faith stayed still until she heard the window roll back up and felt Willow turn the car around. Then she slowly sat back up and looked at her driving companion.

"How'd you know it was Slayer business?"

Willow smirked, "Its Sunnydale, Faith. It's always Slayer business."

"So, what are you thinkin'? This girl might be another one of your Potentials?"

"Teenage girl with stab wounds, that's their modus operandi."

"Who's what?"

"Modus operandi, it's Latin. It means – oh, never mind. It's the Bringer's M.O."

"Ah, gotcha. You're still the brainy chick I remember, Red." Faith felt a small smile tugging her lips at the sight of Willow's full-out one. "So, hospital then?"

"Yup. Let me call the house first though, give everyone heads up about all this."

* * *

The brunette Slayer followed a few steps behind Willow as they made their way through the hospital. Faith could feel her muscles tighten of their own accord, she didn't like hospitals. Never had as a kid and especially not after that eight month coma Buffy had put her in. The white, bare walls, the disinfectant smell, the doctors who always looked down on you. No, hospitals made her uncomfortable.

The fact that this one was so empty didn't help either. Willow had said the good old folks of Sunnydale seemed to know something bad was coming and were slowly filtering out, but it was creepy to see it in action. Faith had never been able to compare the halls of a hospital to a ghost town. But that was the vibe she was getting at the moment.

They had been pointed in the right direction by the nurse at the reception station, to whom Willow claimed they were family of the stabbed girl. Apparently the chick was still in surgery, but "you're welcome to go to the observing window and look on," the nurse had informed them. Turning a final corner, the pair arrived at their destination, and found someone already looking through the glass wall at the surgery taking place.

_Here goes nothing._

"Hey Giles," Willow said, lifting her hand in a small wave.

"Ah, Willow," the man said as he turned around. "And… Faith."

Faith gulped, "Hey."

"Hello Faith," the elder man sighed. _Well, he doesn't look thrilled to see you, but he doesn't look angry, so… that's good, right?_

"We got your call, I figured I'd stop by. Buffy's out on patrol. You, ah, you didn't mention Faith."

"Yeah," Willow drawled out. "I was in L.A. helping Angel with something, and Faith helped too. Wes got her out of, well, broke her out of prison. Well actually she broke out but only when Wes told her what was up. But she's totally good now, no more nasty Faith." Willow's head whipped around to look at the brunette, "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean it like that." she turned back to Giles. "Faith helped out and when it was over I figured, hey, a Slayer? Helpful, no? So I asked her to come back. And well, here we are. Back," she finished lamely.

Faith shook her head at the redhead's babble. Could Willow get any cuter?

_Wait, what? Cute? Since when do I find anything _cute_?_

_Know what, let's just ignore that one._

"That, that actually seems like a good idea," Giles replied, seemingly not fazed by the Willow-babble. "It's good to see you, Faith. I'm sorry it's on such unfortunate terms."

"Comes with being a Slayer, I guess. I'd ask how you've been, but, well," Faith gestured to the surgery going on, "Least you're not the one in there."

_Faith, you can stop talking now._

"How's she doing?" Willow asked Giles, looking through the glass at the girl on the operating table.

"They've managed to stop the bleeding, that was her primary injury. Stab wound to the stomach. And there was a burn mark on her neck, some sort of marking the doctor was unable to identify."

"You sure she's one of us?" Faith asked quietly. "She don't look like much now. Not a Potential Slayer, I mean."

"It is possible," Giles said, removing his glasses and beginning to clean them. "It could just be a random girl and The First has got us jumping at shadows."

"Seems to fit though," Willow said. "We'll know more when she regains consciousness."

"_If_ she regains consciousness," Faith countered. "Girl's been gutted like a catfish."

_I'd know, I've been there. I was there for eight months. God, I hope the kid wakes up._

"Yeah," Willow replied lamely, seeming to understand what Faith was referring to.

"The burn on her neck though, that is unusual." Giles said, not realizing the depth of Faith's comment. You had to hand it to the guy, when something big and bad came up, it was hard to distract him, even with thoughts of the past.

"New player?" the redhead asked almost hesitantly. And Faith couldn't blame her, they were up against enough as it was, they didn't need any more surprises.

"It's not unlikely," Giles said, looking back at the girl in the operating room. "Hopefully she'll be able to provide us with some information. If The First is changing its game then we need to be aware. As far as we know, it's only been going after the Potentials by way of stabbing. Burning its victims, that seems almost personal."

The three settled into a comfortable silence, listening to the whirs and beeps of the machines on the other side of the glass. Giles cleaning his glasses, Willow with her arms crossed against her chest, and Faith with her hands shoved deeply in her pockets. The doctors seemed to be wrapping up whatever it was they were doing; they were probably going to move the girl to a recovery room soon.

_Tell them, tell them, tell them! _A small voice in Faith's head chanted. _They need to know that it went after you, too. You're here to help, right? So help._

_It's not important. So someone came at me with a knife, it could have nothing to do with this First guy. _Faith argued back.

_Or it could have everything to do with it. It went after you, tried to kill you. They're so busy with their own world they didn't even think that this could be happening outside their little circle. Tell them!_

Faith took a deep breath, pushing down any bitterness that might be apparent in her voice, "Something's killing girls all over the world, trying to end the Slayer line." She looked to Giles, who nodded in conformation. The brunette continued, shrugging, "Thing like that, figure I might get a heads up."

Willow dropped her arms and shook her head, quick to defend the Scoobies, "Faith…"

"Guess it doesn't really matter," Faith continued, "as long as you got the true Slayer intact." She wasn't mad at them, she was just… upset. A little hurt that they hadn't thought of her. If Wes hadn't asked for her help with Angelus, Willow would never have even had the idea to ask Faith to come back with her. Faith would still be in prison, isolated from everything she was _chosen_ to do.

"Faith," Giles said sternly. "You were in prison; we assumed you would be safe there. We didn't feel it was necessary to warn you about something that di-" he cut off whatever he was going to say, instead saying, "something like this."

_Something that didn't concern you,_ Faith finished for him in her head. _Still a Slayer, but even Slayer business doesn't concern me._ Out loud, Faith scoffed, "Yeah, G, that's prison, safe as a kitten. Nothin' to worry about there."

"Faith, we're sorry we didn't tell you," the redhead said as she met the other girl's eyes. Faith watched as the knowledge of her words donned on witch, "Did something happen in there?" She looked worried.

_Ten points for the redhead._ "Someone came at me with a nasty looking knife. Didn't really know why 'til now."

"Faith, we had no idea-"

"Oh, Faith, we didn't-"

"Forget it," Faith interrupted them, pushing whatever anger she had down. It wasn't their fault; they didn't know something had come after her. They were worried about the Potentials. It probably never even occurred to them that it would come after her.

_Yeah, it attacks the Slayer line, must have just slipped their minds to warn the _other_ Slayer._

"It's cool. I get by," Faith shrugged off the apology they were trying to give her. Instead, she gestured to the girl in the other room, "What're we gonna do about her?"

"Buffy's out patrolling right now, so we'll have to inform her when she gets back," Giles answered her. "In the meantime, we should just sit tight and wait to speak with the girl when she wakes up."

The brunette shook her head immediately, "I can't stay here. Spent way too much time in hospitals. We don't click." _You have no idea how much we don't click._

"Why don't Faith and I head back to the house, get her settled in. We'll let Buffy know what's up when she gets home from patrolling. You okay to wait here?" Willow asked Giles.

"Ah, yes. Buffy and I had , um, a disagreement while you were in Los Angeles. Some space is probably a good suggestion. I'm fine waiting for the girl to wake up."

"Disagreement?" Willow asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"It's nothing to worry about Willow, head back to the house."

"Come on, Red," Faith said, lightly grabbing Willow's arm as she turned to leave. "The G-man will be fine on his own for a little while."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was much later that night by the time Willow and Faith arrived at the Summers' home. The witch had decided a late-night shopping spree at the grocery store was a good idea, seeing as how they were low on supplies when she'd left for L.A. the other day and it was unlikely anyone had gone shopping since then. And if they had, it wasn't like more food was a bad thing. Not when you're housing a bunch of teenage girls.

_That's Sunnydale for you. The bigs and bads come out at night and try to eat you, but we've still got a twenty-four hour grocery store._

She and Faith had raided the store of just about all the food they had. They were feeding an army, so they went through a scary amount of food each day. At first Faith had seemed a little hesitant at just how much food Willow was piling into the cart – which had morphed into three carts by the end of the trip – but once Willow reminded her just how many people were living at the house, she changed her tune and began picking things off the shelf right and left.

With her bank account much emptier and her car stuffed full, the arrived at the house a few hours later. Buffy was bound to be back from her patrol, although Willow had no idea how long Giles was planning on staying at the hospital. The ride back to the house had been quiet; Faith had calmed since meeting Giles, and was enjoying the chocolate bar Willow had bought for her when she'd noticed the Slayer eying them at the checkout.

Stepping out of the car though, Willow noticed the demeanor change instantly. Faith stood stiffly next to her as they each grabbed a handful of bags to carry back to the house, and Faith's face had turned into a blank mask of indifference.

Willow was really starting to feel guilty about not giving everyone at the house a heads up at this point. Faith seemed to have it stuck in her head that Buffy was not going to be pleased to see her.

She bumped hips with the other girl as she led her along the side of the house, avoiding the front door altogether and taking a direct route to the kitchen. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Actually I think I'm the ghost in this situation," Faith said tensely, "And they're about to see me."

Willow frowned, shifting the bags in her arms so one of her hands was free. Instead of immediately going to open the back door, the reached over and poked Faith, "You seem pretty non-ghosty to me."

Faith sighed, "Red."

"Just trust me, okay?"

Faith nodded and didn't say anything more as Willow opened the door.

"Any-body-home?" Willow sing-songed as the pair entered the house. The light was on in the living room, indicating the Potentials weren't asleep yet. Which was good, they could help with the bags.

Willow poked her head into the living room and a few of the girls sitting on the couch at the far end of the room turned to look at her, followed by a chorus of hellos, some sleepy, some energetic.

"You guys just get back from patrol?" Willow asked the teens. When a few of the girls nodded, she continued, "Want to give us a hand? We come bearing food."

The redhead heard Faith chuckle from behind her as the girls all seemed to jump up and run for the rest of the bags in the car in one fluid motion. "Food oriented. Typical."

"I'd say you could leave your personal bags here but, well…" Willow started, "you don't have any." She brightened, "Don't worry. I'm sure some of the girls will let you borrow their clothes, and we can buy you some new ones tomorrow," Willow smiled, feeling bad for Faith. Here she was, agreeing to come and help, and she didn't even have any clothes besides the ones on her back.

"Will, that you?" Buffy's voice sounded from further in the house. "We're in the dining room,"

"Yeah, coming," Willow called. The first of the Potentials were already back with the bags from the car, so the redhead directed them to the cupboards, where she knew some of the bangs would be unpacked and put away, and some would be eaten on the spot. "You ready?" She asked, turning her attention to the Slayer next to her.

Faith shrugged in response, "Don't have much choice. Let's just get it over with." As the pair made their way towards the dining room, Willow heard Faith mumble under her breath, "Still wish you'd've given them a heads-up first."

"Hey, Wills, how was L.A.?" Buffy asked as the redhead stepped into the room.

_In the midst of a Scooby meeting,_ Willow thought. _Perfect. May as well tell them all at once._

Dawn, Andrew, Anya and Xander were seated at the dining room table, a few books and papers scattered between them. Spike was leaning up against the far wall, arms crossed and looking like he'd rather be outside with a cigarette, while Buffy looked like she was in the middle of pacing the floor.

"Was just telling the gang how patrol went. Minimal on the vamps, not so minimal on the demons. Which is odd, because usually when something this big comes along, all the demons high-tail it. We took a few of the girls out, and Rona and Kennedy both staked a–," the blonde seemed to suddenly notice the presence standing in the doorway next to Willow. "Faith."

Willow watched as just about everyone in the room tensed, eyes widening and backs sitting up straighter. It was an instantaneous and instinctual reaction, and Willow hated her friends a little bit because of it, knowing Faith was already nervous about this. Faith didn't need to see them jump into hostile mode so fast, it would only make her more regretful about agreeing to come along.

"Hey, B."

The blonde Slayer just stared, "Uh… hi. This is a little," she turned to her best friend for answers, "unexpected?"

"This is what you went to L.A. for?" Anya asked what everyone was thinking, "To bring back the psychopath."

Willow frowned, already this wasn't going well.

"Anya."

"What, Xander, its true. She is a murdering head-case."

"Anya," Willow laughed forcibly. "Faith isn't here to kill us."

"Well clearly, because if that was the case I'm sure we would all be bleeding profusely by now," the petite blonde stated, gesturing around the room. But that was Anya, always to the point, especially when she was nervous, which she visibly was now.

Willow could practically hear Faith roll her eyes in response from where she was leaning in the doorframe.

"Will?" Buffy asked.

"Just here to help, B," the brunette answered for her.

"Oh, is this the other Slayer? The one Called when Buffy died? I heard she – ow!" Andrew yelped as Xander kicked him under the table.

"Faith, meet Andrew. Our hostage-houseguest-geek-cook thing," Xander offered.

"You went to L.A. to bring Faith back?" Buffy asked softly. "Splainy, Wills."

"I was in L.A. helping Angel out, so was Faith, so I figured…"

"Aren't you supposed to be in prison," Dawn asked coldly, speaking for the first time since Faith had entered the room.

"Wes kind of… got her out. There was a demon they needed help with, the Beast, Faith gave them a hand."

"More like gave it my face as a punching bag," the brunette mumbled.

"So why did they call you?" Buffy asked the witch slowly.

"Um… ah, well, a spell. They kind of needed me to… fix something," Willow answered, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. They didn't need to know the details, did they? That would probably only make the situation worse.

"So they needed a spell," Xander stated, "Why'd they need _you_?"

_Don't say anything,_ Willow told herself sternly. But as much as she didn't want to say anything, Buffy was staring sternly at her, waiting for an explanation. _No fair, only I'm allowed to use the Resolve Face. Oh, grr. Don't crack, Willow. Resist the resolve._

"Just tell 'em, Red," Faith sighed quietly.

"Tell us what, Willow?"

"They needed me to re-ensoul Angel," Willow replied, leaning back slightly in fear of the onslaught. And onslaught there was.

"You what?" Andrew.

"You _what_!" Buffy.

"Angel lost his soul!" Dawn.

"Ha, did the bugger lose it again?" Spike.

"Oh, good Lord!" Anya.

"Angel's evil?" Xander.

"Angel's evil _again_!" Dawn.

"Wait a minute." Xander.

"How did he…" Buffy.

"He slept with someone?" Anya.

"Good on him." Spike.

"I think I missed something." Andrew.

"You guys, relax, please," Willow insisted, holding her arms up in defence. "Angel didn't sleep with anyone. He's not evil."

"Then how…?" Buffy whispered.

"They put a spell on him; they needed Angelus, to get information from him. I'm not too sure about the details," the redhead finished, turning to Faith.

Faith sighed and ran a hand through her hair before answering, "They unleashed Angelus to help them stop the demon that put the lights out in L.A. Didn't go as planned. So, Wes got me out to deal with Angelus and the thing Angelus was supposed to kill; the Beast. The Beast knocks me down, I knock Angelus down, Angelus ices the Beast, Wes and I capture Angelus, Willow sets it all right. End of story."

"Except the part where-"

"End of story," Faith snapped rather harshly, interrupting the redhead.

_Except the part where you risked your life for Angel's. Except the part where you signed your own death sentence in order to save Angel._

Willow was a little perplexed. Why didn't Faith want the others to know that? Wouldn't that make her seem, well, more acceptable in their eyes? Wouldn't it make it easier for the other Scoobies to trust her, knowing she'd nearly died trying to save Angel?

"So we have a new house guest," Buffy smiled.

"Does she have to stay here?" Dawn asked, her voice still full of distrust, "Because there's some nice hotels that welcome tried-to-kill-your-sister types."

"Check it out," the smirk in Faith's voice was evident. "Brat's all woman-sized."

Willow tried to hold back her own smirk as Dawn frowned even more.

"Seriously Buffy, I wouldn't care if she saved the Pope, the President or the Queen herself from some evil demon. She still tried to kill you. You can't honestly be okay with her staying here."

"Dawn," both Willow and Buffy tried.

"I'm with Dawnie," Anya put in happily, "Faith. Murderer. Makes for an uncomfortable stay in the last days of Sunnydale."

"I thought we agreed, no doomsday talk. And I'm still confused," Andrew whined, "This girl's killed people?"

"Yeah, I hear she's a big, bad Slayer."

"Says William the Blood-less as of late," Andrew argued back.

"She came after all of us at some point; Xander, Willow, Buffy, me, and Mom," Dawn said forcefully, standing up and placing her hands down firmly on the table. "And she was sent away to be locked up for a gazillion years! She isn't staying here!"

"Murder two," Faith corrected curtly, "twenty-five to life."

Dawn glared harder.

"Hey, now," Xander said, standing up and placing a gentle hand on Dawn's shoulder. The small brunette shrugged it off, but Xander continued anyways. "Willow says Faith is here to help. Faith says Faith is here to help. I'm thinking Faith is here to help. As in help destroy The First, not help us along to our graves." He smiled gently at Willow and Faith. "Why don't we all just try and cool down, okay?"

Dawn sat down abruptly, frowning and crossing her arms.

Willow smiled out-right at Xander. Leave it to him to be the voice of reason, the one to see deeper into a situation. The witch had to hold herself back from running over and hugging the man. He may not trust Faith, but he could see that Willow did, and that was enough for him. Xander was forgiving. He didn't forget, but he forgave if he felt you deserved it.

And he must feel Faith deserved it.

Willow couldn't see Faith clearly, as the girl was a step behind her and to her left, leaning in the doorframe, but she was pretty sure the younger Slayer was smiling in appreciation at Xander's words too.

After a moment of awkward silence, Faith finally put in, "So, we all caught up? Anything else I gotta know?"

"Nice to have you back," Buffy smiled genuinely.


	6. March 13, 1987

**A/N**: This is the first of a few flashbacks to Faith's past that will be spread throughout the fic.

_**March 13, 1987**_

_Not last night, but the night before  
__I went to the candy store  
__I bought myself an ice cream  
__I bought myself a cake  
__Then I came home with a bellyache  
__Mama, Mama, I feel sick  
__Call the doctor, quick quick quick  
__Doctor, Doctor, will I die?  
__Close your eyes and count to five  
__One  
__Two  
__Three –_

The girl in the yellow dress tripped on the skipping rope, ending the rhyme. "Guess I'm gonna die," she giggled happily.

"You got further last time, Dani. Go again?" Her companion asked.

"Yes," Dani erupted in laughter as the skipping rope began turning once more.

The girls began the rhyme again, their pace matching the slapping of the rope against the ground.

One end of the rope was held by her overall-clad companion and the other was tied to the roof access door. The sisters had been on their apartment roof for the past hour, skipping rope and tossing a worn tennis ball. The roof was their own private hideout, the tree-house they couldn't have in the city.

"Yay, I got to the end that time."

"You always get further than me," the girl holding the rope replied.

Dani smiled and shook her head, "Faithie, that's because you never practice. You always just want to hold the rope."

"I like hol-" a familiar tire-squeal from the street below interrupted her. Walking to the edge of the roof, Faith peered over. A white truck thundered down the busy South Boston street; its driving past their building always marking the end of their games. "There's the truck," she sighed heavily for someone so small.

"I wish it didn't go by at the same time every day," Dani said as she untied the rope from the door handle. "Then we wouldn't know what time it is, and we could stay out _all night_." Dropping the rope, she reached her arms out and tipped her head back, her dress flaring out as she began spinning in lazy circles. "It'd be so much fun!"

Her sister's quick response of, "but then Mom would get mad," caused her spinning to come to a halt. A sad look on her face, the young girl picked up the rope and the tennis ball and opened the thick metal door. Together, they snuck back into the stairwell.

The girls lived on the second floor of the three-level building, so the unhappy trek back down the stairs didn't take long. They did however have to take a detour to avoid Mrs. James' door. The older woman lived down the hall from them, and seemed to have it out for the young girls. They had to go the long way to get to their own door, but it meant more time away from their mother.

Once inside, Faith stopped in the hall to take her sneakers off; Dani had gone barefoot. Wondering how her sister could skip on the hard concrete roof and not get sore feet, Faith absentmindedly followed her sister to the kitchen. She didn't realize the other girl had stopped walking until she bumped into her. "Oof. Dani, why'd you…"

Her sentence remained unfinished as her eyes followed where Dani was looking. She could see why her sister had stopped. Their mother was hastily standing up from the kitchen table, wiping white powder from her hands and then wiping her nose; hiding the evidence. "Girls, I didn't hear you come in."

"Yeah," The little brunette said flatly. At only five years old, Faith wasn't sure exactly what the white substance was, but she knew her mother's explanation of "it's just medicine" was a lie.

Ignoring her daughters' stares, Lara Lehane continued, "Go to your room and finish packing. I've got things to do," she nodded towards the stack of unopened envelopes on the table. Envelopes that would contain bills and would no doubt remain unopened.

Dani continued to stare at their mother curiously, so Faith lightly clutched her hand and led her out of the room.

"Why does Mama do that? Take that white stuff?" Dani whispered.

"Don't know," Faith answered quietly as they walked into their small bedroom. A few boxes lined the wall, proof of their move in a few days. The only things not in boxes were the sheets on the twin beds, a colouring book, crayons and a few comic books.

Faith dropped onto the floor, picking up one of the comics. She couldn't read all the words, but she liked looking at the pictures. They were what she wanted to be when she grew up; a superhero. She wanted to protect people and fight the bad guys. Maybe one day save other kids from people like her mother.

The other girl sighed before climbing onto the bed. Stretching out on her stomach, the younger Lehane began to colour in the colouring book. Out of the blue she stated, "I don't want to move."

"Neither do I, but Mom says we have to."

"Why?"

"Money, I guess."

That seemed to pacify the girl only for a moment before she spoke again, "Faithie, are we poor?"

Faith looked up from her book, trying to find an answer her sister would be able to understand. Eventually she just settled with, "I don't know." Faith hated answering this way, she knew her sister wanted things to be laid out with clear answers, but they were answers Faith didn't have.

"Mama doesn't always pay bills. That means we're poor, right?" Dani questioned innocently.

"I think so. But there are people that are worse off than us, like the people on the street that don't have homes. I think Mom makes us poor, I don't think she uses money properly." Faith could see her sister was about to ask another question. She tried not to get frustrated, but it was hard explaining things to Dani. She was curious and couldn't just accept things the way they were like Faith did. This was their life, they couldn't change it.

The younger girl's question was never asked. Their mother's voice drifted down the hall and interrupted their conversation, "Isabel!"

Faith shifted on the floor, but didn't move.

"Isabel Faith, get your ass in here. Now."

"Faithie?" Her sister asked quietly.

Faith stood up, "Stay here," she told Dani. "She probably just wants to see if we're finished packin'."

Dani nodded mutely, her brown curls bouncing. Her eyes were wide with worry. Their mother's voice sounded aggravated, not aggressive, but they both knew that the woman's moods could change in an instant.

When Faith arrived back in the kitchen, her mother was leaning against the counter; hands on hips and one foot tapping impatiently. "What the hell is your problem?" she asked her daughter bitterly.

When Faith didn't answer immediately, Lara continued, "Why aren't the dishes packed! Bobby is coming down _tomorrow_ to help us move."

Faith knew better than to question who Bobby was. There were always unknown men in her mother's life, and it was better for both her and her sister not to interfere. They had bruises to prove it.

"Isabel, answer me," Lara snapped. Their mother always called her by her first name, usually in harsh, aggravated tones. If she was in a really bad mood, her middle name was added. Dani, on the other hand, insisted on calling Faith by her middle name. And Faith liked that better; hearing people call her Isabel just reminded her of her mother yelling at her.

"I… I can't reach the top cupboard," the young brunette said slowly. Her mother was a bully and never seemed to care how old they were or what they were or weren't capable of doing.

"Use a chair!" she said as she grabbed Faith's arm, "I've got things to do."

"Ow, Mom-"

Lara ignored her daughter's struggles and squeezed harder, "I ask you to do this one thing and you say you can't? Do you know how much I do for you, for both of you?" She was yelling now, shaking Faith. "You inconsiderate little-"

"Mama?" Dani stood peering around the corner, a worried look on her small face.

"Daniela Hope, did I ask for your fucking opinion?"

Faith managed to tug her arm free of her mother's grasp. She stepped back graciously, placing herself between her mother and her younger sister. Dani didn't understand the rules when it came to their mother, but Faith did. It was better if the woman took her anger out on Faith. Faith knew how to hide the pain, Dani didn't. And showing pain, fear, or tears only made their mother angrier.

"Go," Faith hissed.

There was a moment of hesitation, and then Faith heard the sound of her sister's retreating steps. Inwardly sighing in relief, the little girl's eyes raised to face her mother again.

"If we pack 'em you'll just get mad! What about dinner… and breakfast? W-we can't eat if the plates are packed up." Her voice, strong at the beginning, wavered near the end, but Faith pushed the tears down and faced her mother stubbornly.

A moment of uncomfortable silence followed. Faith felt herself stiffening, expecting another blow from her pissed off mother. But it never came. Instead, Faith watched as her mother's face transformed from one of anger to one of almost bliss, "Oh, Sweetie, you're right. I should make us dinner!" All hints of anger fled as Lara seemed to analyze the idea, "Oh, let's have breakfast and dinner together. Pancakes!" Turing away from her daughter, Lara moved towards the cupboards and began looking for ingredients she would need. They didn't have a box of pancake mix – there was almost no food in the house – so Faith wasn't sure how long her mother planned to go through with making pancakes.

The joyful exclamation only confused Faith for a moment. Sometimes it was hard to follow their mother's rapid mood swings; she would go from a drunken rage to actually acting like a parent in a matter of seconds. But generally Faith was used to it. It was another of the rules regarding her mother, just go along with whatever she did.

Faith didn't know why her mother acted like she did, but it was scary. And not just when Lara was angry; Faith was afraid of her even when the woman was in a good mood, like she was now. When she was in a good mood she'd act so sincere, almost loving. Faith used to think it was fake; that her mother would just act like that in front of people. But she didn't think so any more. There were rare moments when she was genuinely concerned for her children.

And then an instant later Faith would have a bruised shoulder. She knew better than to trust her mother.


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

She moved with fluidity, her body gliding through the motions that, after months of practice, came naturally. She'd studied all types of martial arts and meditative practices while she'd been in prison. They'd had a fairly intact library, and once Faith had realized that she couldn't use her full potential on the workout equipment without drawing unwanted attention, she'd looked for a new outlet for her energy. She had always been restless as a child, and as an adult it was no different, but the prison library had had some pretty good books about meditating and calming down. She didn't buy all of it, her inner self and feeling the energy flow and whatnot, but some of the techniques to quiet her mind had helped her relax and control her anger and guilt. Even when she'd been Called as a Slayer, her first Watcher had never been able to keep Faith's attention with meditation. She'd trained Faith in martial arts, but the meditation hadn't stuck. But with not a whole lot else to do for days on end, Faith had given it a shot and realized she liked the outlook.

Plus, there were plenty of books on martial arts, and combined with the meditation, she'd matured a lot over the last three years. The yoga was too slow for her taste, but she'd studied it with her first Watcher, and it did help with her balance and positioning when she'd tried the Tai Chi. It wasn't something Faith had ever tried before, her fighting technique was a lot more impulsive, but the stuff was pretty cool. It focused a lot on balance and power, understanding yourself and your opponent. When Faith had been learning to fight vampires, it was more "take stake, attack vampire." Her first Watcher had died too soon after Faith had been Called, so she'd never learned a proper _technique_for fighting. A lot of it was just what she'd picked up on the way.

When she'd first come to Sunnydale, Giles had tried to teach her some of the techniques and practices he'd taught Buffy, but Faith liked her own style better. She didn't focus on her opponent or planning her moves, she'd just let her instincts take over. Buffy, having learned from Giles, analyzed and calculated, looking for weaknesses and openings. Which worked for her, but not for Faith.

Well, it hadn't worked for the old Faith anyway. Now though, Faith liked what she'd learned of the fighting styles originating from the Far East. She found she had more control over what she was doing, more confidence and power.

She continued through the motions, trying to keep her mind blank. She was in Buffy's backyard, working out before the wannabes got up and decided they wanted a training session. That was Buffy's thing, not hers. Faith was willing to learn, but she didn't do so well with the teaching.

Last night, after the initial meeting with the Scoobies, Willow had shown Faith to her room. Which was actually Willow's room. The redhead had insisted that since Faith wasn't just one of the Potentials, she deserved a better place than a sleeping bag on the floor of the living room. Faith didn't complain. She'd spent three years sleeping on a rock hard mattress in the top bunk above Angie, a two hundred pound chick with a mullet, motor mouth, and who was a major sleep talker. Sharin' a room with Willow was like royalty in her book.

Besides Willow, the girl's room was being shared by three of the many teenagers inhabiting the house; Kennedy, Caridad, and Carmen. Again, Faith was now used to sharing a room, so it wasn't that big a deal for her. The girl Carmen was about her size, so she'd borrowed some sleepwear from her; an oversized shirt and boxer shorts. And that worked out fine, boxers and a tank were Faith's usual first choice for sleepwear, aside from nothing at all.

She'd shared the bed with Willow; the witch seemed to feel bad about how her re-introduction with the Scoobies went and was trying to overcompensate. The chick Kennedy had been a little peeved at that. Her exact words were, "Why does she get to come here and have the bed? We've been rotating sharing it with you the past few weeks, and she just shows up and gets to take the bed?"

A nasty look from Faith had shut her up pretty fast though. The chick had spunk, which Faith liked, but she was also a bit of a brat and needed to be put in her place. Something Faith was all too happy to do.

So here she was, in grey sweatpants and a blue and white shirt that was way too flowery for her taste, working out to only the sounds of the birds and distant chatter from the girls inside the house. A glance through the kitchen door window told her Andrew and a few of the girls were watching her. Fine by her, so long as they watched and didn't interact. She'd only been here a few hours and already the place was driving her nuts. Way too many people crammed together. Faith needed some time alone.

_And yet,_ Faith thought as she delivered some more hits to her imaginary opponent, _here comes Blondie now._

"Faith. You busy?"

"Define busy."

"Up for a session with the girls?"

_Wasn't I just thinking about how I don't do the teaching thing?_

"Look, B, teaching the squirts isn't really my deal, that's all you. I told you, just point me in the right direction and I'll shoot. I'm not one with the whole imparting wisdom thing. Kinda lacking the wisdom actually," Faith smirked.

Buffy, who was standing on the back porch, tossed Faith a stake, who caught it effortlessly. "Though I'm thinkin' you might be missing the wisdom too," Faith said, holding the wooden object up. "Daylight, minimal vamps besides your boy."

"Training session," Buffy said, enunciating each syllable as she joined Faith on the grass. A few of the girls made their way outside after her. "As in, with us and not in a cemetery."

"Look, B-"

"Fighting wise, I've only got you and Spike to help me teach them. We could work in the basement, but there's more room out here. Plus," Buffy leaned over and tapped Faith on the arm, "Incarceration? I'm thinking you might be a bit rusty."

"Rusty my ass, Blondie."

"So you in?"

Faith sighed dramatically. She would really rather not, but what the hell? A chance to show off to the wannabes, show them not to mess with her, why not? Might even scare them off enough so they'd leave her alone. "Yeah."

Buffy smiled, "Good. Kennedy," she called to one of the Potentials, "Go round up the girls. Training session."

"But it's like, nine in the morning," one of the girls standing on the porch whined as Kennedy made her way back inside. "And aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Got some time off."

"Mean like you got laid off?" Faith asked.

The blonde scoffed, "None of your business."

"Right, Buffy the Guidance Councillor just not cutting it at helping those troubled kids?" Faith taunted lightly.

"I take my job seriously, Faith!"

"Course you do, B."

"He's on our side, you know."

"Who?"

"The principal."

"Right; Red told me he's one with the demon killin' on his spare periods."

"He's the son of a Slayer."

Faith whistled. _Now that's somethin' I never thought I'd hear. _"Wicked cool, gotta meet this guy," she said out loud.

"Later. Right now, we get to show off."

_Well_, Faith reasoned in her head as they waited for everyone to gather outside, _at least this way I can see where they're at. B's probably got them trained best she can, but it won't hurt to scope out and see which girls not to stand next to in a fight. If they can't hold a sword, I'm staying away. Don't need to worry about surprise hits from our side while I'm fighting a bloodsucker._

About ten minutes later all the Potentials had gathered in the backyard, ready for a training session. Faith noted their faces ranged from excited to scared to bored. Not surprising, Buffy probably had them training as often as possible.

"In case some of you missed the introduction, this is Faith. She's a Slayer," Buffy said, gesturing to her right.

"How-"

Buffy cut the questions off with a hand in the air, "I died. I came back. But I still died, which led to Faith." Buffy began pacing the grass in front of them, looking at each of the girls in turn as she spoke. "Now, Faith's been… out of the game for a little while, but she's still got loads on the rest of you. She's banked more field time then all of you put together. You don't argue with her. She tells you you're doing something wrong, then you're doing something wrong. We good? She's not here for you, she's here to fight. She's only doing this because she knows I'll kick her ass if she doesn't."

_Wow, she totally has the whole teacher thing going. They're totally eating up everything she sa– hey!_

"Hey, watch it, B. I could kick your ass all the way to China before you knew what hit you."

"Uh huh," Buffy rolled her eyes. "Now, why don't we start with-"

"Can we see you two spar?"

_Kennedy, course she's the one to ask that._

"I don't think-"

Buffy was unable to complete her argument due to a chorus to teenage voices agreeing with Kennedy's suggestion. The blonde glared at Kennedy, who stood with a knowing smirk on her face.

"Kennedy," Buffy warned.

"What? You two boasting about kicking each other's ass? I wanna see who wins."

"Now isn't-"

"B, it's cool. Let's show the mini-me's what we've got. Give 'em a chance to see some real action."

Buffy huffed, but agreed. "Okay, watch us. Study us. This isn't just us warming up before we start training today; this is us showing you what you can be. Watch how we move, watch how we think. When we're done, it'll be your turn."

_This should be interesting. Bet these girls have never seen Buffy go all out before._

"You ready?" Faith asked, casually walking to the center of the backyard.

Buffy dropped her jacket and stretched her arms in front of her, "You betcha." She looked excited. Faith wasn't sure if it was because she was going to be fighting an opponent who wasn't actually trying to kill her, like she had been as of late with the übervamps Willow had mentioned in the car ride, or if she was just excited to throw down with Faith again.

_Probably the second one. B gets her rocks off from hitting me._

_This should be good._

They circled each other for a moment, Faith letting Buffy warm-up her body. She'd been working out for the last hour; her body was already humming with adrenalin and anticipation. Buffy was still cool and not in the zone yet.

So, did Faith's workout tire her out, or warm her up?

Totally the latter, Faith was so going to win this. Buffy had no idea what she was in for. She knew the old Faith, not the new one.

Faith didn't wait for Buffy to make the first move; all those hours of training by herself in the prison yard were going to pay off. She lunged, her right arm sailing forward. Buffy sidestepped, but Faith let her momentum carry her as she turned her miss into a crouch. She turned, letting her leg extend and sweep out towards Buffy.

Buffy jumped out of the way easily, and went for an uppercut as Faith regained her footing. Faith blocked the move with her arms and then went for a nice kick to Buffy's chest.

"That all you got, B? You're gettin' rusty in your old age."

"Please, Faith," Buffy grunted, "If I'm rust, your crude oil."

_What the hell does that even mean?_

They continued dancing around each other for a few minutes, Faith testing out different moves and Buffy dodging them. Faith had only practiced her new teachings on her own, never using them against someone. It felt nice to actually have a moving object to focus her hits on. They came naturally to her. As her body moved into one position her mind was already planning her next move, it was something the old Faith had never done. But it was natural now; she wasn't studying Buffy's moves, just anticipating them and adjusting her own in response.

Buffy, for her part, seemed a bit impressed. But Faith could see she was trying not to let it show as she tried to deliver her own hits to the brunette, which Faith blocked. If anything, Buffy was a performer. If she was surprised by Faith's new skills, she wouldn't show it to the girlies watching.

Faith landed the first punch. The whole time, they'd been dodging or blocking each other. But Faith saw an opening. Buffy had tried one of her moves three times now, and Faith noticed she dropped her left arm slightly each time. Only slightly, but it was enough. They danced around each other a few more times, and when Buffy tried the sequence of moves for a fourth time Faith was ready. She blocked, spun, and hit home in Buffy's shoulder.

The blonde winced and jumped back, her eyes angry but bright. "This is new," she panted.

They were both breathing heavily in fact, and Faith felt the thin shirt clinging to her with sweat, "Learned some new things while I was away. You like?"

"Oh, I like. Your old style was getting old," Buffy said as she rushed at full speed towards Faith, seeming to step it up a notch, "and sloppy."

"Oh, you're just askin' for it, B. You're just – oof." Buffy landed a nice kick to Faith's gut.

Buffy smiled cheekily, "You were saying?"

Buffy went in for another attack, but Faith stepped out of the way. Then, seeing Buffy follow her, leaned sharply to one side, letting her center of gravity shift dangerously. At the last moment, Faith shifted her footing, catching herself. Buffy had to brace herself suddenly to keep herself from falling, and while she was distracted with her balance, Faith got in a few lovely hits.

"So, B, what's this I hear? Banging the dead again? I thought you were through with that."

"One," Buffy said as her punch connected with Faith's shoulder, "my love-life is none of your business. Two," the blonde smirked as her next punch hit Faith in the jaw, "I bet it's more then you're _banging_, what with prison and all."

"You're all talk, babe, no walk," Faith kicked hard, sending Buffy sputtering a few feet away.

They continued on as such for some time, punching, kicking and taunting each other lightly, every so often Buffy commenting to the Potentials about a move either she or Faith made. Eventually, Buffy managed to catch Faith off guard and got her on the ground, pinning her. As she opened her mouth to say something to the girls on the sidelines Faith bucked her body upwards, tossing Buffy's weight to one side. It was enough for her to shove the girl off and get to her feet again.

"Careful B, don't teach the newbies to be cocky."

"Says the Queen of Cockiness."

"Oh, you know it. Call it a draw?" She didn't want to stop sparring, she was enjoying herself more than she would admit, but neither of them seemed to be taking the upper hand. It seemed like this could go on forever until one of them missed a step. And as fun as it was to just let go, there were other things to do. The juniors were looking way too comfortable watching them; they needed to be put into action.

Buffy nodded, understanding Faith's pointed glance at the Potentials. "All right," she said, addressing her troops, "Your turn. Show us what you've learned."

Buffy led the girls through some warm up exercises first and then got them organized into pairs. While the girls sparred, Buffy and Faith walked between them, correcting form and commenting on their styles.

Well, Buffy did. Faith did more watching then teaching. She tried to think back to the things her Watchers had told her, both her first Watcher and Giles. Hell, even some of the jargon Wes told her when she'd trained with him came back to her.

But instead of gushing out Watcher-lingo, Faith simply envisioned herself fighting the girls. She watched for weak moves or openings and then called the girls on them. It was easier that way. They didn't need to know proper technique, didn't need to know how far their arm had to extend in a block, they just needed to know how to survive. And Faith could help them with that.

And the Slayer had to admit, Buffy had a pretty good thing going with these girls. They were green, most of them had never had any training with a Watcher, but they weren't all bad. And they listened to Buffy. They made faces when they thought she wasn't looking, but they listened to her.

Faith wasn't sure how much time had passed – it had to be a few hours at least – when Dawn's form appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Buffy," she called.

"Yo, B," Faith addressed the blonde when it was apparent she hadn't heard her sister.

"Huh?" she asked, in the middle of guiding Amanda's moves. "Oh. Yeah, Dawn?"

"Willow just called from the hospital. The girl's awake."


	8. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"'I have something of yours.' What does that even mean? _I have something of yours._ What kind of stupid message is that for someone who's evil? I mean, seriously, wouldn't it be more in character to go with _I'm going to be the one to crush you _or _I'm your worst nightmare_. If he's evil, which he obviously is, why say something so lame?"

"Well," Willow replied to her friend slowly, "It could just be to get your feathers ruffled. He probably wants you confused and unsuspecting for an attack."

They were on the way home from visiting the Potential girl who'd been attacked – Shannon – from the hospital. She'd woken up, and told them all she could; which wasn't much. She was running from a group of Bringers, some preacher man picked her up on the side of the road, and she thought he was going to help her. Turns out, no, of course not, he's evil too. Because why not complicate things? He said something about the Bringer's being "his boys," burns her, stabs her, then dumps her on the side of the road.

Oh, and right before he dumped her he told Shannon he had a message for Buffy; _I have something of yours._ The blonde had been turning it over the whole ride home, trying to figure out what it meant.

"You think he's got my feathers ruffled?" Buffy asked with a pout.

"Oh, no, of course not. He doesn't even know you. You, Buffy, have unruffleable feathers. Comes with facing evil so often."

"You totally made that word up didn't you, Wills."

"I have been known to do so when the occasion arises," the redhead giggled. She sobered up almost immediately though, "Seriously Buffy, I think the point of the message was to mess with you."

"But we don't know for sure," Buffy reasoned. "He could have another Potential, another girl being tortured. Could be something else entirely. He said the Bringer's were his, so he must be working with The First. And that means he could throw just about anything at us."

Willow tried to focus her attention on the road, but it was hard while trying to keep Buffy calm. Usually these conversations, the ones in which Buffy bounced ideas off the witch and Willow tried to keep Buffy from imploding because she was thinking too hard, did not occur in a moving vehicle. "We don't even know who this guy is," Willow said, glancing at the Slayer before looking back to the road. "We have no idea if he even has any real power."

"Whatever it is, I want it back, this _thing_ of mine he has."

"We don't even know where he is," the redhead stated flatly.

"I'll think of something."

"You always do."

There was a long pause before Buffy started speaking again, "You know what I have been thinking, Will?"

"How much those boots go with that top now that there are permanent blood stains on them?" It was true, they looked worse, yes, but at least now they matched. Why her friend had bought those boots in the first place, Willow had no idea.

"I was – hey! I like these boots," the Slayer glared at her. "Anyways, as I was saying before I was so _rudely interrupted_ – this is your cue for a guilty face by the way."

"Guilty face, check," Willow laughed.

_I miss this, this friendly banter. Friendly chats. Friendly moments between us. They've all been low on the to-do list as of late. Stupid First Evil._

"I was thinking about faith."

"You believe in God now? I thought you weren't into that, what with the whole evil monster stuff you face every day. I though you-"

"The person, Wills," Buffy interrupted her. "I was thinking about Faith _the person_."

"Ah."

_Oh, no. Here we go. Is it that time again, bash Faith time? Last time we seriously did this was when Buffy got back from L.A., right after Faith turned herself in. Of course, I was also on team We-Hate-Faith back then. But seriously, can't she just accept that Faith is good now and willing to help? Weren't they training together today? I don't see any black eyes, so it must not have been the "I'm going to kill you" kind of training. Maybe–_

"Why's she back?" Buffy asked lightly, looking out her window.

_Or we could not bash her, just change things up completely._

"Because she can help."

"Yeah, Willow, I got that from the speech last night. Now tell me the real reason. What really happened with Angel in L.A.? Why isn't Faith trying out some new evil scheme to ruin my life?" Buffy's voice wasn't angry, just curious.

"She was in prison for three years Buffy, she's changed. She grew up. We all have," she said the last part almost sadly. They all really had changed. "The Mayor, Faith killing Allan Finch, that all happened when we were in high school Buff, we were just kids. And Faith… Faith was a little bit messed up as a kid, I guess. But she's changed now, she's grown up. And she wants to be here. She's changed, for the better."

"I can see that, Wills," the blonde answered, shaking her head, "I'm not denying it. Trust me, the trying to kill me thing she was doing, it was getting old. I like the new Faith."

Willow offered a smile, she was glad the two Slayers were getting along. For now at least. With their history, something was bound to happen.

"Why'd you ask her to come back, Willow? I mean, last I remember, you hated her too. Possibly more than me."

The redhead sighed deeply; she didn't want to get into this. Not now, not with Buffy.

_How do I tell her without telling her? _Willow wondered. _How to I explain that Faith and I are the same now without actually saying it? I trust Faith; I can see how far she's come because I'm going in the same direction. Buffy can't see that._

"She-"

"Don't give me some line about her being a Slayer," Buffy cut in. "I want to know why you asked Faith the person, not her fighting skills, back here."

Willow thought for a moment, staring ahead of her as she drove them down another empty street. Sunnydale really was clearing out. People were still there, but you could see the drastic dip in the population.

Finally Willow just shook her head, "I don't know. You didn't – you didn't see her, Buff. You didn't see what she did for Angel."

"So tell me."

"She risked her life Buffy." She sighed, knowing she was going to have to tell Buffy at least part of the story. "S-she let Angelus bite her, drink from her-"

"She _what?_ She _let_ him? Willow, what the hell?"

Willow's hands jerked at her counterpart's outburst. She'd been expecting a similar reaction, only one less screechy. Once she'd steadied the car, she took a deep breath, "Let me explain, okay?" At Buffy's impatient nod, Willow continued, "Her and Wesley, they came up with some plan. Faith… Faith shot herself up with some mystical demon drug. When Angelus bit her, it knocked him out. It was what allowed them to capture him. Without that, who knows how long it would have been before they stopped him."

"I'm going to skip over the massive 'what?' I'm internally screaming and jump right to the 'but' I'm sensing here," Buffy said tersely.

"It was supposed to kill her. She took enough to kill herself. I guess she wanted to take enough to get the job done, to make sure it would take Angelus down long enough to capture him so I could do the spell. But, well, they were all pretty sure she wasn't going to make it. I'm not even sure _how_ she made it."

"Why?" Buffy asked quietly. "Why'd she do it?"

"We didn't really talk about it. But my guess is because it was Angel. He – he helped her out, right? Believed in her. I guess she figured, if she was going to be spending the rest of her life behind bars, why not do something right? It wouldn't make up for it, all the things she's done, but it wouldn't hurt." When the blonde didn't respond Willow added, "If you're really curious, maybe you should talk with her, not me."

"You see something in her, don't you," Buffy asked after a moment of silence between them.

_Whoa, hold the phone. I what? Why would I -?_

"You empathize with her, her darkness."

_Oh. Yeah, that. Whew, I thought she meant that I – know what? Not even going there. _

"Yeah," Willow said quietly, "I guess I kind of do. We, we're similar now. Different, but similar. So yeah, I guess I can see what she's going through and understand it. And I understand her wanting to find redemption. She's trying Buff, we both are."

"I know," the Slayer nodded. "I mean, it's Faith, so of course I'm a little jumpy, it comes with the history we have, but I can see she's changed. She hasn't had a real chance to prove she's not going to jump ship, so I'm not quite at the point where I trust her, but I trust you. And if you say she's here to help us, then I guess I have to trust that." Buffy looked away from Willow and out the front window, studying the houses, her face suddenly clouding in confusion, "Have you just been circling our street for the past few minutes?"

"Yeah," Willow replied sheepishly. "I figured, deep, meaningful chat? I should probably not interrupt it by pulling into the driveway and being attacked by moody teenage girls."

"And when exactly did it get dark out?"

Willow pulled up in front of the house and cut the engine, "Somewhere between ruffled feathers and now."

* * *

One fairly daunting pep talk from Buffy later found the Scoobies gathered upstairs. Buffy had just dropped the bomb that she wanted to go after the priest, Caleb, and the Potentials were all downstairs in various stages of freaking out.

Upstairs, the Scoobies too were in various stages of freaking out. Less about the fact that they were going after Caleb, more about the fact that it was probably a trap.

"We don't even know where we're going," Willow stated in response to Buffy, who had just said she was ready to attack. All they needed to do was find Caleb's hide out, then she wanted the girls ready to go.

"'S why I figured we'd do a little recon first," the blonde turned to Faith, "You up for it?"

The other Slayer hesitated only a moment before nodding and replying, "Point me where you want me."

Willow was a little worried. Hell, she could see most of the Scoobies were worried about Buffy's judgement. Sure, they needed to go after Caleb, but right away? It just smelled like a trap.

She was right, the message Shannon delivered really had ruffled Buffy's feathers. The blonde didn't like it when the game changed on her. And when that happened she started making rash decisions. Which led to impulsive actions. Which led to things going wrong.

_Okay, yeah, this is probably my fault. I should have stopped her from going down this thought-path when we left the hospital. I should have convinced her to wait a while to attack before she became so focused on the idea. But, I mean, we were talking, like, best-friend talking. We haven't done that in a while. And there were jokes, and laughing, and hugs when we got out of the car. How was I supposed to know that while I was explaining about Faith, part of her was planning an attack?_

"…rest can stay behind." Buffy was saying.

_Oh, poop, I wasn't listening. What are they saying?_

"Could be that's just what he wants you to do," Spike said gently, looking at the blonde, "the old bait-and-switch."

_Spike's not agreeing with Buffy? Spike's agreeing with us? _Spike_ thinks it's a trap?_

_Okay, I guess we're still talking about Caleb then,_ Willow reasoned internally. _Rest can stay behind. Oh, she means she's taking some of the girls with her and some are staying behind. Good problem-solving skills._

"Yeah," she said out loud, hoping she didn't sound like an idiot since she'd missed part of the conversation, "he lures us away and then kills the girls we leave behind."

She quickly glanced around the room. Giles looked a bit… pissed, but everyone else just looked worried for Buffy. No one was staring at the witch like she'd grown a second head, so she reasoned her words sounded okay. _Good, I'm thinking admitting to spacing-out right now would not be such a smart idea_.

"I know," Buffy said, answering Willow's comment. "That's why I need you to stay here with them. You're my most powerful weapon, Will."

Willow's eyes widened as she shook her head slightly at the blonde's words. _Oh, no. Please, no. Don't say that. Please don't add to the fear I already have._

"I know you can keep them safe if anything happens," Buffy finished, either not noticing or not caring that Willow was about to have a heart attack. The redhead really didn't want to be relied on for magic-use.

_Oh Goddess, she had to say that. Now all I can think about is magic. Specifically, my magic not working. Oh, see, look, there's the house. There's me, watching some of the Potentials. There's the Bringers attacking. And, oh, look, there's my magic backfiring and destroying the house. Lovely image._

_Focus on what they're saying! Don't zone out again!_

"An unknown man breezes into town," Xander said lightly, probably not wanting to anger Buffy any further, "says he has something of yours. Buffy, this thing's got 'trap' written all over it."

_Yes,_ Willow agreed internally. _Yes, it does, Xander. Now, why can't Buffy see it?_

"He won't be expecting a full attack," Buffy replied, a growl present in her voice. "Not this soon, that's why we have to move," she said empathetically, stressing her words.

Giles raised his voice, angry at Buffy's lack of judgement, "We know nothing about this man. We cannot go into battle unprepared. We have to have more time."

"Giles." It was clear Buffy was exasperated at this point, angry that no one agreed with her.

_We agree with you Buffy, just not your idea of when to attack. We need to go after Caleb, just not right this second._

"We don't have time," Buffy continued, unaware of Willow's internal musings, "And you're not-"

"What if time isn't what we need?" Faith spoke up.

Willow looked over at the brunette, her eyes trying to make contact with Faith's to plead with her. If Faith was on Buffy's side of this argument, there was no real point in arguing. The rest of the Scoobies could be against them, but it wouldn't matter. If the two Slayers agreed, then they'd act, without help from the others.

"What do you mean?" Spike asked, looking at the brunette thoughtfully.

"Like G said, we know nothing about him," Faith began slowly, "Don't know if he's all talk, or if he can create some major damage."

"Do you have a point?" Buffy asked, glaring daggers at the younger Slayer.

Faith went on, "And like Xand said, we don't know if it's a trap or not-"

"Faith, we were all here," Xander smiled, "we don't need a recap."

The brunette rolled her eyes but continued talking, "And B's right that we need to go in now. Timing isn't the issue. The issue is simply _how_ we go in. Yeah, it's probably a trap. No doubt he's expecting us to go after him. But he won't be expecting _how_ we can go after him."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Easy, B, lemme finish. Once you and me scope out his digs, like you planned, we come back here and get some of the girls ready. Caleb's expecting us to go in kicking and screaming, yeah? He's probably prepared – don't know how or with what, but he's probably prepared – to fight us in hand-to-hand, 'cause he knows we're Slayers. I say, as long as we bring some firepower and have an escape route, we should be good."

_Huh, that's not a bad idea._ "So you mean," the witch replied, "Let him think he's got the upper hand, let him think he's got us. But… what exactly?"

"It'll depend on the scenery, but I say, just have more than one option. If he's strong, we should be stronger. Don't just bring stakes and crossbows, bring the_ firepower._ And if it turns of preacher boy's a weakling and we stop him without the whole shebang, then no harm done."

"So you're agreeing with Buffy," Giles stated.

Willow watched as Faith looked back and forth between Giles and Buffy.

"I'm just tossing an idea," Faith answers, holding her hands up in surrender. "B's thinking rash, you're thinking conservative. I'm just tossing ideas to meet you both halfway."

Buffy stared at Faith, seeming to think over her suggestion. She looked less pissed, that was for sure. A minute ago she was ready to just jump into the fray, at least now she was thinking strategy.

_Since when is Faith the one to think strategy? Isn't Faith usually more impulsive than Buffy?_

"So we scope him out," Buffy finally said. "Figure out what resources we have here and figure out what's there that we can use to our advantage. We attack, but with precaution."

Buffy looked around the room, making eye contact with everyone in turn. When she met Willow's eyes, the redhead offered a small smile. She was still worried about her role in all of this, but she liked Faith's suggestion. Buffy and Giles were butting heads about taking it slow and running at full speed, Faith seemed to have found a good compromise.

_Now let's just hope it all works._


	9. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Faith let her eyes drift over the darkened setting around her, trying to keep her focus. She was a little jumpy; she'd only been back in Slayer mode for a few days. She'd jumped into battle in L.A. and hadn't stopped moving since. It felt good, to be slaying again, but she was still wary.

Buffy had been right, she was rusty. General Buffy had been leading the troops for years while she'd been in prison. She had to remember how to be a part of the battle. Fighting, sure, she could do that. The planning though? She had forgotten how stressful that could be.

Yet she'd been the one to solve it earlier. If she was honest with herself, she'd just been thinking out loud, trying to calm Buffy and the G-man down. She'd had no idea her suggestion would turn into the plan of action.

"This is crazy, this is so crazy," one of the girls next to her mumbled.

"Shhh," Xander hushed, not wanting to give away their hiding spot.

They'd found the hornet's nest, that was for sure. She and Buffy had followed a Bringer to some old church that looked like it had seen better days, and watched as a few more Bringers enter the building while they crouched from behind some bushes. If this wasn't their main hideout, it was still some major digs, seeing as how many were entering the holy place.

She and Buffy had had a lovely chat while stalking the no-eyed man earlier that evening. She'd inadvertently brought up the whole "it's a trap thing" and had had to quickly smooth that over, reassuring Buffy that she supported her.

And she did. She was behind Buffy. The others were a little worried about the rashness of the decision making, but Faith felt Buffy was right. They had no idea what this Caleb guy was hiding, hell they had no idea if he was something to really worry about or not. Sure, Buffy had agreed to a compromise, attack but have weapons and backup instead of jumping in with no plan at all, but she was still right about the _attack now_ part.

Plus, Faith was just itching for some action.

They had talked some more as they continued their mission of following the Bringer, mostly discussing the Potentials and how their training was going before Buffy dropped the bomb.

* * *

"_Why did you come back?" she asked out of the blue, stopping in her tracks._

"_Willow said you needed me," Faith answered honestly. _Didn't we already go through this last night, why I came back?_ she thought to herself._

"_Didn't give it a lot of thought," Faith continued. She could see that Buffy wasn't happy with her answer. Buffy wanted a deeper meaning, wanted to hear exactly from Faith why she was back. The setting was perfect, just the two of them, no one else around but the eyeless wonder up ahead. Buffy probably wanted Faith to say some heartfelt junk about wanting to make up for what she'd done in the past._

_Which Faith did, she wanted to make up for it all, she just wasn't going to tell Buffy quite like that. Faith wanted to earn her forgiveness, not just have it handed to her. She was stubborn like that._

"_Do you – am I getting you want me to be not here?" Faith asked aloud._

_Buffy was quick to reassure Faith that she most indeed did want her there, which was nice. It was nice to know she was wanted, if only for her fighting skills._

_Plus, if she wasn't here, there weren't a whole lot of other places to be. Back in L.A. helping Angel, if they wanted her. Back in prison, though her sentence would no doubt be extended since she had broken out. Or to head back to Boston to keep a promise she'd made a long time ago._

_They continued walking and eventually got on the topic of Angel. She knew the redhead had spilled something about what had happened in Los Angeles to Buffy, but she wasn't sure how much. Faith simply said that Angel needed help, so she helped._

_Then she'd mentioned the mind-walk she'd had with him. Guess Willow left out that part._

"_You were in Angel's mind?"_

_Thankfully Faith didn't have to explain further; the Bringer did its job. The pair watched as it literally led them to the doorstep of its hideout, where they assumed Caleb would be. It was a rundown and abandoned looking Catholic Church. It was pretty small, and had a farmhouse around the back. Kind of an odd place to plan world domination, but whatever, if that was where Caleb was hiding, he wouldn't be hiding there much longer._

* * *

So here she was; her, Xander, and a few of the Potentials, waiting for the signal. Waiting to jump into action.

The plan: they'd split up into two groups. Buffy, Spike, and five of the most experienced Potentials. Faith, Xander, and the other four of their best fighters. The rest were at the homestead with Willow and Giles watching over them.

Willow had panicked over that, Faith could tell. But she believed in the redhead; Willow may be afraid of the power, but she knew how to use it when it was necessary.

She felt the girl to her left shuffling in her spot. Faith glared at her; it was important none of the Bringers knew they were there, and giving away their hiding spot would do just that.

The girl, Estela, had almost a pained expression on. Faith was about ready to growl at the girl when suddenly the Potential ducked her dead down and her body shook slightly. Faith heard her inhale of breath as her head popped back up.

_What the – _the girl pointed to her nose_, oh, sneeze._

_What the hell are you doing sneezing at a time like this?_

Buffy's group had slipped inside the church, hoping to charge Caleb. Faith's group was the backup. If things got messy, or they heard too much screaming from inside, then they come in.

It was basically Buffy's original plan, two groups of attack. But Buffy had wanted an ambush from both sides. Instead, one group went in, one group hung back with the firepower. Buffy's group had the weapons, Faith's group had the noisemakers. If things got to sticky inside, then the girls outside would put on a fire show, leaving the girls inside a distraction so they could get out.

A few fire crackers and flares, and a small cherry bomb or two. Not much, but hopefully enough to draw Caleb outside and away from Buffy and co. If they blew up the back end of the building, the boy was bound to go see what's up.

It was crappy. The whole plan was crappy. But it was all they could do. There was no pacifying Buffy when it came to this, she wanted to see what Caleb had of hers, and she wanted to see what kind of competitor he was. And she wanted it now.

But that was exactly the problem. They didn't know how powerful he was.

Why had Buffy wanted to rush in here?

Why had Faith supported her rushing in here?

Buffy had led her group in about ten minutes ago. So far, things were still quiet, so Faith figured they hadn't been noticed yet.

_Uhh, this is so nerve-wracking, and I'm used to this. It must be killing the juniors._

Faith glanced around at her charges. She, Xand and the girls were spread out behind some trees that stood a few feet away from the back of the church, hoping none of the Bringer's noticed them. Xander was quiet and focused. He'd done this hundreds of times before, he knew what to do. The girls however were in various stages of boredom, fear, and anticipation.

They'd picked some good fighters. Buffy had more of an idea of their skills, but from what Faith had seen while she was training with them earlier, they definitely had the better fighters with them. Some of the girls back with Willow? Yeah, they didn't know which end of the stake was pointy.

Even though she'd only been in Sunnydale a short while, Faith had tried her hardest to get to know the girls. It was hard, especially since they were wired and bouncing off the walls all the time, but she was trying. Buffy was too busy being General and leading the troops, but Faith was getting to know them.

She was proud she'd taken the time to learn their names.

The girl to her right was Estela. Hispanic, with caramel skin and brown hair. She was a nice girl, giggled a lot thought. She hadn't done all that bad during the training session today. Though she probably hadn't staked any vamps of her own on the patrols with Buffy. She was wearing a nice brown suede jacket. Rookie mistake. Don't wear the good clothes to a fight.

Next to Estela was Amanda. She'd been here a while, got on well with Dawn. She seemed to be one of the few who got along with Andrew, so Faith figured she was a bit of a geek. But she was well-spoken, and ate up just about everything Buffy said, so Faith knew she was ready for this.

Crouching behind a bush next to Xander was Tenisha. Dark skin, dark eyes, and dark hair with red streaks in it. She didn't say much. But apparently she'd taken to some of the training moves Spike and Buffy had been showing the girls as if it were second nature.

Last in her group was Minh. It was supposed to be Dominique, a small strawberry blonde who had the softest voice Faith had ever heard. She was definitely a gymnast or something back home, because she stood out during the training session. She'd been with them right up until they were loading the girls up with weapons, when Buffy and Faith were just getting back from finding the church and Xander was delivering some speech about Buffy's heart. Then the chick had freaked and backed out of going.

The girl Vi had volunteered to go; the mousey redhead who'd been there almost since the beginning. But Buffy had disagreed. Like Dominique, she was great at the training, but not confident enough to apply the knowledge.

Minh however knew how to apply. She'd arrived only a day before Faith and Willow had gotten back from L.A., so Buffy hadn't had a whole lot of time to see what potential she had. But both her parents were martial arts instructors – knowledge – and after she'd gotten off the bus to Sunnydale she'd killed the Bringer chasing her right before Buffy showed up – application.

They were a good group. Just green; inexperienced. But, bad as it was, this was their chance. Buffy could give the girls as many training sessions as possible, but they needed field time. Which, yeah, Buffy was taking them out on patrols, but it wasn't the same as this.

Slowly, the Slayer shifted her weight from one foot to another. She was watching from behind a tree, but her legs were going numb from standing in the cool air. No action. Her body needed action.

She glanced at Xander. After a moment he seemed to sense her eyes on him because he looked over at her. "How long?" she mouthed.

He looked down at his watch, held up all ten fingers, and then flashed two more. Twelve minutes. It had been twelve minutes since Buffy, Spike and their team had entered the small building.

The Bringers were blind, but were they that dumb?

Faith took a deep breath, letting her Slayer senses reach out to find Buffy's along their Slayer connection. There, Buffy was still there, still in the building.

She couldn't hear any fighting though, even with her enhanced hearing. They hadn't been spotted yet.

Or it was a trap.

Her mind was screaming at her that it was a trap, screaming that they needed to do something.

She looked to Xander, hoping he'd have answers.

He held up three fingers. _Wait another three minutes._

Faith nodded. Fifteen. That would give them a total of fifteen minutes to scope out the place. Then Faith's group was jumping into action.

Of the nine girls they'd taken with them, Buffy's group seemed to have the more experienced fighters. Molly and Kennedy had been the first of the Potentials to arrive in Sunnydale, and both had had Watchers and some form of training.

Molly was intelligent. She listened, gave ideas, and participated. She volunteered when Buffy needed someone to help her demonstrate. And she was on the calmer end of the girls, not quite so sugar-high all the time. Faith liked her.

Kennedy was another story. Already Faith could see that the tough brunette was used to getting her way. She was a little cocky; she knew she was one of the best fighters of the girlies. And she was opinionated and spunky. Faith could see a little of herself when she was younger in the way Kennedy acted. She didn't mind the Potential, but she was aggravating sometimes.

Rona, the black chick with dreadlocks and attitude, was also in Buffy's group. She argued a lot with the other girls from what Faith had seen, and was always willing to let people know when she was unhappy. Not so great at the sparring training today, but Buffy said the girl had heart and easily staked vamps when on patrol.

Jessie and Rona looked and acted alike, Faith got them confused the first few times. Jessie, like Rona, was dark-skinned and had attitude, but this girl had her hair up in messy buns on the back of her head. She had a hard punch; like, really hard. She'd nearly knocked out the girl she was paired with earlier today.

And last in Buffy's group was Diane, a small oriental girl with long black hair. Faith was glad she was in the other group, the kid talked way too much. On and on and on she yapped. And from what she'd seen today, Faith didn't think she was the greatest of fighters, but Buffy had picked her. Let the blonde deal with her.

The brunette Slayer was glad she'd gotten to know the girls. She couldn't name all eighteen of them off the top of her head, one, because she'd only been with them for a day, and two, because there were bound to be more new ones tomorrow. But she was taking the time to get to know them as best she could.

She hoped Buffy at least knew the names of the girls with her now.

_How embarrassing would _that_ be? 'Hey, um, you, go do that.' 'Don't you know my name?' 'Yes, I'm just choosing not to use it.'_

She noticed Xander waving his arm frantically in her peripheral vision. She and the other Potentials looked over to him, and he pointed to his watch then to the church.

_Guess its go time._

_Buffy, you better be ready, because we're about to make some noi-_

The sound of breaking glass cut Faith off mid-thought.

Kennedy and a Bringer had crashed through a window and were now rolling around on the grass. "Just _die_ already, you stupid eyeless freak!" the girl yelled as she wrestled with the robbed man.

"Let's motor chicas!" Faith yelled, jumping into action. Her body almost seemed to sigh a _finally_ in response.

_Time to kick some ass!_


	10. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The sound of the stove buzzer caused Willow to jump in surprise. "Oh. Oh, crap, no." She leapt up from the stool she was sitting on at the countertop and darted over to the stove, sliding her hands in the oven mitts on her way over. "Please don't be burnt. Please don't be burnt. Please don't be burnt."

She opened the oven and, ignoring the blast of heat on her face, peered in before beginning to pull the tray off the rack. "Yes. Not burnt," she cheered as she lifted the tray of cookies out of the oven and onto the stovetop. They looked crispy and golden, with the little raisins peeking out. Perfect.

Using the lifter, Willow began the careful task of moving the cookies onto a plate on the counter to cool. "No," her face fell when she saw the state of the underside of the cookies, "Burnt."

She sighed heavily, but continued to move the cookies onto the plate. Someone would eat them. She was in a house full of constantly hungry teenager girls. Willow knew that a few scorch marks on the bottom wouldn't be enough to scare them off. Even if they were burnt so badly they were black, she was sure at least some of the girls would consider eating them. The variety of food they had in the house seemed to wax and wane depending on when someone managed to go shopping, so it was often a 'take what you can get' sort of situation.

_Why am I even doing this?_ The witch wondered idly, looking down at her less than spectacular creations. _We have a threat of immanent doom, and I'm making cookies. Pathetic. Willow, you are pathetic._

Buffy and the others had left a little over half an hour ago, heading off to the church to see what this Caleb guy was hiding. They had a plan – a weak one, but it was better than nothing – and hopefully would return without any injuries. In the meanwhile, she, Giles, and Anya were looking after Andrew, Dawn, and the remaining eight Potentials.

_I'm nervous_, Willow thought, looking down at her shaking hands as she moved the last of the cookies onto the platter._ I'm freaked out because Buffy, Faith and Xander are out there facing Goddess knows what, and I'm here, supposedly Buffy's strongest weapon, ready to protect the girls in case something attacks the house. And at the moment my only weapon seems to be cookies. That I burnt. Because I can't do anything._

It was only late evening, but Willow had already had three cups of coffee. And once Dawn had insisted the redhead was too jumpy and had had enough, Willow had turned her attention elsewhere, trying to distract herself. She had wondered around the house for a while, trying to find something useful to do, until Anya had gone off at her about how her pacing was rather disquieting and could she please stop?

Willow wasn't sure how she ended up baking cookies. It just sort of happened. One minute she was walking into the kitchen, forlorn look on her face, the next there was an open container of cookie dough in her hand, ready to be moulded.

While the cookies had been in the oven, Willow had been reading the book Fred had given her in L.A. It had a fair amount of information on Hellmouths that would have been useful years ago when they were just discovering what lay underneath Sunnydale, but it contained nothing that would be all that useful at the present moment. Willow figured she'd give it to Giles when she was finished with it, and he'd put it somewhere for safekeeping like he did with all the books he'd collected over the years.

She heard the sound of socked feet trying and failing to be stealthy as they crept down the hall. Seconds later Willow heard an excited squeal, "Oh, look, I was right!"

"Food! You made more food!"

"It smells good."

"Can we have some?"

Willow turned to look at the two Potentials who had burst into the kitchen, limbs tangling with each other as they struggled to be first into the room. Holding back a confused smile, Willow said, "You guys are like hornets, you know. I _just_ took them out."

"We know," one of the girls replied. She was about Dawn's height, with short, blonde hair. Willow was pretty sure this was Holly.

"We could smell them baking, but didn't want to come down until you had them out of the oven," the other girl continued. This one was shorter and thinner, with white-blonde hair. They looked alike, but Willow was fairly certain this one, the one with the lighter hair, was Kelly.

They looked alike, and their names sounded alike, and they had arrived within days of each other. Of all the girls in the house, these two were the only ones she couldn't remember the names of, and only because she didn't know which name went with which face.

"Last time, when Andrew was baking, we all got yelled at for being in the kitchen. He threatened to throw stuff at us."

"Yeah, he's a bit of a pain," Kelly agreed, rolling her eyes.

_I think that one's Kelly. Or is she Holly? Oh, why do their names have to be so similar? Why do they have to _look_ so similar?_

"They're a little burnt," Willow said, offering the plate to the girls. There wasn't much point in denying them the cookies, they'd find a way to eat them with or without her permission. "And they're probably still hot. Don't burn your mouths."

"'S'alright," Holly said, taking one. "Mmmm, oatmeal-ey."

"Whatcha doin' in here anyways?" Kelly asked as she took a cookie off the plate and sat down at the bar counter. Holly followed suit as Willow leaned back against the counter next to the stove.

"Aren't you supposed to, ya know, be doing witchy stuff to keep us safe?"

Willow grimaced. "I've got a small magical ward up around the house, but I…" she let the sentence hang there, unsure whether to go into the details with them or not.

_But I don't want to do anything too big. I don't want to lose control, and I don't want to drain myself in case something _does_ show up._

Those weren't exactly the things she should be telling the girls though, Willow knew this. They were all looking to her and the other Scoobies to protect them. Letting them know she was too afraid to do just that, what she needed to protect them, was not what they needed to hear.

"But I don't think you have anything to be worried about," she finished lamely, forcing a smile.

_Why did I have to stay here? Not that I'd be any help at the church, but why did Buffy have to say that, that _I_ was the one going to protect everyone here? Why couldn't she just say the other girls would be safe here with Anya, Giles and I? Why did she have to single me out?_

_I'm not powerful, not any more. Now I'm just uncontrolled and scared; two things that should not be used in the same sentence when talking about magic._

She took a slow breath in and out, trying to calm her nerves. She had nothing to worry about. Everything would be fine. Nothing bad was going to happen at the church, and nothing bad was going to happen at the house. Buffy and Faith would keep them all safe.

Buffy and Faith. Willow was glad they were working together. Somewhat reluctantly on Buffy's part, but no one was getting stabby, so that was good. She was worried that Buffy would be reluctant to have Faith back in the fold, but she seemed to understand that Faith wasn't here to pick fights or rehash old wounds.

Most of the Scoobies seemed to be taking it pretty well, the Faith being back thing. Faith and Xander were getting along just fine, but the witch expected that. The two of them always seemed to get along. They had their little… _thing_ before, the sleeping together, but there seemed to be no lingering tension between them now. Willow figured most of that was Xander's doing. He was really good at seeing things from other people's points of view and making everyone feel welcomed.

Giles seemed okay with Faith being back, but Giles was always good at being professional and being understanding of what was really going on. Anya not so much; Anya was good at holding grudges and was hesitant to trust old foes.

And then Dawn. Dawn just glared whenever the brunette was in the room.

_Not nice._

Willow was glad Faith was here to stay. She felt… safe around the brunette. She felt like she could confide in her, as weird a thought as that was. But it was true. She and Faith shared something now, something that brought them closer. It may not be the most conventional thing to share, the darkness, the evil, that they'd both spilled human blood, but the bond was there nonetheless, and Willow liked that.

She trusted the stubborn Slayer. Trusted Faith to help Buffy protect them all, to keep everyone safe from whatever The First threw at them.

Willow knew she'd feel a lot better at the present moment if Faith were here with her instead of with Buffy, but there was nothing she could really do about that right now.

"…and that's why I'm not allowed to bake cookies. It was bad. Real bad. But I mean, no one actually died, right? So that's good. But yeah, no baking for me for a long time."

Willow blinked repeatedly as she was pulled back into the conversation, looking between the two blondes sitting across from her. She'd zoned out again.

_I keep doing that. Focus, Will. Now isn't really the time for daydreaming._

"Sorry," Willow started, blushing in embarrassment, "I didn't quite catch-"

She stopped herself short when she caught site of four heads suddenly appearing in the kitchen doorway. All of their faces had wide eyes and cheesy smiles, as if hoping they didn't have to beg with words and their pleading looks would be enough for her to feed them.

"Go ahead," Willow laughed, shaking her head at them all.

The group trampled over to the counter and Willow jumped up and out of the way, keeping clear of their grabby hands as they fought over who got what cookie off the plate. If she didn't know any better she'd wonder if they'd eaten in days, what with how excited they were at the sight of food.

"Sorry Willow, I tried to hold them off," Anya said, following the girls into the room and stopping to stand next to her.

"It's okay," Willow smiled. "I'm surprised these lasted as long as they did."

"We could smell them in the other room," Anya explained. "But I convinced them all to wait until the show was over before they attacked your newly made cookies," she glanced at the slowly shrinking pile. "All of which look lumpy and burnt by the way."

"Uh, thanks."

Anya nodded happily.

"What were you watching?" the one Willow was pretty sure was Kelly asked, stuffing another cookie into her mouth.

_These will so be gone before the others get back. There's no question. A whole batch of cookies, gone in sixty seconds._

"Jeopardy," Anya replied. "I was criticizing the host. His questions about the French Revolution were terribly inaccurate."

"You some sort of history buff?" Colleen, a girl from New York with wavy brown hair and doe-eyes asked.

"Well, no," Anya began, smiling at the girl, happy to explain. "I'm a former vengeance demon," she stated matter-of-factly.

That earned her a few strange looks.

When were they going to learn that nothing in this house was remotely normal? Nothing in this town was remotely normal. They were being hunted by a demon that couldn't _touch_ them. And Anya being a demon was what threw them?

"I thought we were here to kill demons. I thought that's what the Slayer is supposed to do," a Hispanic girl with curly brown hair asked.

_Oh no,_ Willow groaned internally, already knowing Anya was going to lecture the girl, _here we go._


	11. Chapter 9

**A/N: **I know originally it's a vineyard, but for my fic I've made it a church instead, which will be explained more later.

**Chapter 9**

"Kenn, status update," Faith yelled, running over to help the younger brunette.

Kennedy grunted as the Bringer's fist connected with the side of her face. He shoved her backwards off of him and went to strangle her; until Faith delivered a strong kick to his forehead. He went down and didn't get up.

"They spotted us," the Potential deadpanned, looking over her shoulder. Two more Bringers had followed her outside and were now wrestling with Faith's group of Potential girls.

"And there's more coming," she continued. "They were everywhere. Buffy told us to fall back, but they followed us."

"Didn't hear any yelling."

"Basement. Bricks. Soundproof."

"Right, and-" she lurched to the side, her Slayer instincts guiding her. A Bringer had tried to sneak up behind her and stab her while she was distracted with Kennedy. "Oh, you wanna play?" she taunted, spinning to face him. "Kenn, go help the other girls."

She didn't look to see if the younger brunette followed her instructions, her attention was now on the robed figure in front of her that was raising his knives to slash at her. She threw herself forward, shouldering him in the gut. His arms – still holding the knives – came down to bear into her back, but the Slayer twisted out of the way.

"Dude, you can't even see me, how the fuck are you doing that?" Faith stated, confused at his fighting skills. He raised the knives again, but Faith was quicker, punching him in the sternum with her right and in the face with her left. He dropped, she left.

"Xand, how we doing?" She called anxiously.

His face popped up from the bushes. "Anybody in the mood for a party?" he asked just as a hole was blasted into one of the walls of the church.

Faith shielded her face with her arms as bits of wood and rock went flying. The building was old and crumbling as it was, it wouldn't take a lot to bring the whole place down. But they had been careful when they'd set up, only enough to blow the back end of the church, not destroy the whole thing and trap Buffy and the others inside.

As she dropped her arms she saw Jessie and Rona running towards them from around the front of the building. Jessie was limping, Rona was holding her arm to her chest, and three Bringers followed them.

"Faith, catch!"

Faith spun, catching the object Xander had thrown and running towards the panicked girls in one smooth motion. As she closed in, she dropped her arm, brushing the object against her leg, then held it out in front of her as it burst into an orange glow; emergency flare, curtsey of Xander's car trunk.

The two girls ran past Faith as she brought the flare forward, extending it right into the face of one of the Bringers. He howled in pain and stumbled back. Right as Faith turned to take care of the second one a foot that wasn't her own collided with his chest and he fell to the ground. Minh stood there, offering Faith a hesitant smile.

"Nice, kid."

The back door of the church blew open and a blur of clothes tumbled out. Molly landed with a thud on the grass, a knife protruding from her stomach.

"Molly!" more than one voice shouted in alarm.

Faith moved forward to go help the girl, but a strong grip on her arm held her back. She turned to look, and ducked just in time as the Bringer she'd burned a moment ago slashed where her face had just been. His already disfigured face was contorted into anger, clearly not liking the burn marks she'd given him.

The Slayer yanked her arm forward, pulling the off-balance man towards her. She grinned, and a much practiced move later found the Bringer on his back behind her. Quicker than Faith would have thought possible for a blind man, the Bringer was back on his feet, knife sailing towards her throat. She grabbed him by the wrist as she threw her weight forward, forcing his arm down. She felt the sickening squish as the blade bit into his flesh, blood splattering her in the process.

She shoved the body away from her and looked to the back door. Kennedy was fighting with the Bringer that had followed the British girl outside, while Amanda and Estela were dragging Molly out of the way. Molly's eyes were closed.

Faith counted, the only ones missing were Buffy, Spike and Diane.

The blade still in her hand, Faith went after the nearest Bringer. Their knives clashed together, both of the blades bloodied and glistening in the moonlight. The Slayer pushed forward against the other man, putting her full weight into her attack. She succeeded, knocking the knife from his hand.

But she forgot about the other hand. The metal slashed into her side, just above her hip. Letting a growl of pain break free, Faith pivoted and kicked her opponent hard in the center of the chest. As she watched him go down another landed on her back, one arm wrapping tightly around her throat and the other scraping his blade along her upper arm.

It only took a moment for Faith to toss him off her shoulders. The force of her throw threw him a few feet away. However, his flight was cut short as his back slammed the center of a tree trunk.

A certain tree trunk.

_Damn it, forgot about the tree. Get it together, Faith._

"Girls, let's show these guys our show-stopper," Faith called as she turned on another Bringer.

Faith and her girls herded the Bringers they were fighting towards a large tree off to the side of the clearing behind the building. As Faith shoved the last of the robed figures in place, she looked to Xander.

The man smirked as he tossed a lit flare into the tree.

A large explosion of light and sound followed. The tree the Bringers were standing under had been filled with fire crackers, and it began to rain fire on them as the flare set off a chain reaction of the fireworks.

That one had been Faith's idea. She didn't know where the thought came from, because seriously, putting firecrackers in a tree and using it as a weapon? Kind of a weird idea. But it seemed to work just fine. She figured her subconscious had a thing for fire.

"Well now, look at this. Did somebody order a parade?" a southern, unknown voice asked loudly from just inside the building.

Faith turned just in time to see Buffy being tossed out the hole they'd blown in the side of the abandoned church. The blood and dirt covered blonde landed in a heap a few feet away.

"B!"

A man calmly followed Buffy outside. He was dressed in all black, with a clerical collar around his neck. There was no mistaking who he was.

_Caleb._

"Really, did all of you organize this? With the fireworks? I'm-" Spike, in full vamp mode, launched himself at the preacher from inside the building, "-honoured," he finished as Spike collided with him. The man grabbed Spike by the neck and tossed him the ground a few feet away. She could practically hear the vampire snarling in fury and embarrassment.

Faith didn't need an invitation. _So, minster boy's got power? Cool, so do I._

She charged. To her right, a Bringer was about to slash into Tenisha; Faith veered towards them, snagged his silverware, and continued towards Caleb without breaking stride.

She attacked, switching between kicks and the knife. He blocked her moves easily, not even phased by her advance. This just made the brunette angrier, and she intensified her assault. She growled as she lunged for him, but he griped her by the shoulders and shoved her to one side.

Faith grunted as she skidded to a stop.

"Well, you're the other one, aren't you?" he asked.

"The other Slayer? That'd be me," she grunted as she charged forward again, this time her blade slashing into the man's arm. He didn't flinch; instead he backhanded her hard across the face.

Faith stumbled back a step, spitting blood out of her mouth. She took a quick survey of the fight around her. Kennedy and Amanda were fighting back to back against a pair of Bringers, swords against knives. Minh was trading blows with another. Jessie was plunging her axe into a Bringer's waist.

Molly and Rona were lying on the ground under the no-longer flaming tree; Spike and Tanisha trying to keep a group of Bringers from hurting the wounded girls. Estela was in the middle of three Bringers, trying not to panic as Xander helped her fight them off.

Diane still hadn't come out of the building, and Buffy's body was nowhere to be seen.

She turned back to her attacker, eyes narrowing.

He was standing casually, a smile on his face.

"Hear you got something of ours," she stated, raising her knife again.

"As I already told your friend," Caleb said, stepping towards her, "I do now." He gestured around at the Potentials fighting against the Bringers.

_Trap._

_God fucking damn it._

"If you plan on bringing us down this easy, you've got another thing coming," she sprang forward, delivering a powerful kick which pushed him back a step. "A few men with knives and no eyes?" she asked as she punched him in the jaw, "You can't bring the Slayers down without a real fight."

The preacher punched her back. Then while she was recovering from the blow, grabbed her and pulled her so her back was flush against his chest. He gripped her arm and pulled it upwards, forcing her to hold the blade against her own neck.

"But I can bring _you_ down this easily, you filthy whore."

_What? What did he just… did he just call me a… _

Faith was a tough girl. She came from a rough neighbourhood. She was used to hearing all kinds of insults and brushing them off without a care. But if someone insinuated she was a prostitute? That was the only one that ever hurt. She was _not_ her mother. She would never sink that low.

Something inside Faith snapped.

"I am not a _whore_," she shoved herself backwards and ducked out of the way of the blade, then whipped around and kneed the man in the jewels.

His face crumpled in pain for a moment.

But only a moment, because seconds later Faith found herself on her back, the man's boot pressing on her throat.

"Oh, yes you are," he sneered, pressing down harder on her windpipe. "You are a dirty, pathetic-"

"Puh-lease," Buffy's voice sounded from behind Caleb, interrupting him. "I've known Faith for years," Buffy attacked; a whirlwind of movement that forced Caleb off of Faith. The brunette got to her feet as Buffy kicked him hard in the chest, "She may have a dirty mind sometimes," a punch to the shoulder, "and get on my nerves a lot," his fist collided with her shoulder in response, "but no way is she a pathetic whore. You on the other hand," she stepped back, "Major pain in my ass doesn't even _begin_ to cover it." She shoved the man forward.

"Buffy, the window."

The blonde reacted to Faith's call instinctively, sending Caleb flying though the back window of the church. Another explosion of fireworks erupted from inside.

Faith shook her head at the sound of the whistles and whirs of the fireworks, the explosion of them enough to crumple the back end of the church. She watched for a moment, and when Caleb didn't appear from beneath the rubble, she turned to survey the rest of the damage around her.

Most of the Potentials were standing, looking wide-eyed and a little bloody. One or two wore slight smiles.

_Not bad for their first real showdown._

Kennedy was supporting Rona and Molly was slumped in Xander's arms. Spike was pounding on the last conscious Bringer, still wearing his vamp face.

Buffy stood a few steps to her right. "Fireworks?" she asked, looking at Faith sceptically. "I know you said fire power, I didn't know you meant actual fireworks."

"Hey, now," Xander smiled, "who doesn't love a little sparkler here and there?"

Buffy just shook her head.

"B?"

"Yes," Buffy huffed, "I meant it. I don't think you're a slut. Not anymore at least."

"Thanks, but not what I was gonna ask." When the blonde turned to look at her, Faith continued, "Diane?"

Buffy stared at her for a second, not registering the question.

"Diane," Faith repeated. "The little one in pink, she didn't come out with the rest of you."

The older Slayer's eyes widened and then softened. Then she closed them and shook her head sadly at Faith.

_What?_

"Caleb… Caleb, he… he snapped her neck," Jessie said gently. "Right after he tossed Buffy the first time."

"Buffy told us to get out," Kennedy continued, "But he grabbed Diane before she could get away. It kind of scared the rest of us into moving."

_Shit._

"Shit," Faith breathed out.

"Should we go in and get her or…" Xander asked awkwardly.

"No," Buffy said sternly. "No, we're done here. We need to get out before The First shows up with reinforcements."

"And the Brit?" Spike asked, looking at Molly in Xander's arms.

"She's breathing," Buffy replied. "Stab wound. Come on, we need to get some of you to a hospital."

As the group slowly began the long trek home, Faith kept looking at Buffy, expecting her to say something. She needed to hear the blonde speak, to talk to the Potentials. Maybe tell the girls they did alright, or say something about Caleb. Anything.

But the blonde's lips were pulled in a tight line.

_She's upset she got them hurt, got one of them killed. Mad that it was a set-up. But she needs to say something to them, tell them they did alright, tell them they kicked ass. She can't just leave it like this._

Faith knew she couldn't be the one to say anything to the Potentials, not right now. Buffy was the leader. Faith telling them 'good job' wouldn't mean anything. Despite the situation, despite the fact that they were bleeding and in pain, they still needed Buffy's appraisal and approval.

Just like Faith did.

Being second best was hard sometimes.


	12. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Has anyone seen Buffy?"

Willow looked up from the arm she was patching up, "She went with Giles to the hospital, didn't she?"

"Really?" Dawn replied, face scrunching up in confusion, "I didn't see her leave." The young brunette looked around the room, scanning for her sister.

"Mmm," Willow mumbled, using her teeth to tie off the bandage. "I'm pretty sure she went with him."

The group that had gone to the church had gotten back about fifteen minutes ago. They were pretty bandaged up and bruised, but they were alive. Willow and Anya had immediately jumped in to a job they both knew all too well, bandaging wounds. It wasn't a fun job, but they'd both gotten fairly good at it over the years. When you were close friends with the Slayer, it was a necessary skill to learn.

Giles and Buffy had taken four of the girls to the hospital. Willow wasn't sure which girls; the whole group of them had trampled in at once, and then the ones that needed professional medical attention were piled into Giles' car and whisked off.

There were so many girls. Willow wasn't even sure whose arm she was wrapping. It was kind of hectic at the moment. The living room was filled with bloodied girls – some telling stories and some getting their wounds treated – as well as the girls who'd stayed behind, who were listening to the stories and helping with the bandaging. The redhead couldn't really tell them apart at the moment, they all just blurred together.

"Xander too?" the younger Summers asked.

"No," Willow shook her head as she stood up, brushing off her knees. "You're all done," she said to the girl before turning back to Dawn, "I'm pretty sure he's in the kitchen with one of the Potentials. She wasn't hurt, but she was crying quite a bit. He's probably using the Xander charm to calm her down."

Dawn's eyebrows rose. It took Willow a moment, then, "Oh, no wait! I didn't mean it like that," she explained as Dawn giggled, "I just mean that he's good at stopping tears when they come flooding, and they were definitely flooding. Can you go see if we have any more rubbing alcohol?"

Dawn nodded and quickly disappeared from view.

Willow looked down at her hands, which were covered in dried blood.

She felt a pulse from deep inside her chest. A stinging memory.

Tara. Tara's blood. Holding Tara as she bled.

Warren. Warren's blood. Making Warren bleed.

She tried to push the feelings of guilt down; now wasn't the time. But she felt her heart squeezing and the all too familiar tingle of her magic bubbling up. It was so easy now. One stray emotion and she'd feel her magic tugging at her, trying to break free.

Willow pushed down harder with mental hands, blocking the magic from escaping. When she felt her power subside she slipped from the room, needing some fresh air to help ease her back into her calm.

She ducked out the front door and took a deep breath as she leaned back on the door, closing it with her weight. The night air was cool but refreshing. Taking a few steps forward, she leaned on the railing of the front porch, looking out at the road. The streetlights were on but all the houses were dark. People were leaving Sunnydale left and right.

A prickling on the back of her neck let her know she was being watched. Turing to the left, she saw a figure sitting on the porch railing. Puffs of cigarette smoke escaped the person's lips.

"Faith?"

"Hey."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Needed some space away from the craziness inside," she pulled the cigarette from her lips and ground it out. She was sitting on the rail with her back against one of the support beams, one leg bent in front of her, one dangling over the other side above the grass. "You?" she asked.

"Something like that," Willow said as she walked over to the brunette, leaning with her back against the rail.

"How they doin'?"

"Okay. A few are pretty beat up. And Giles took a few to the hospital."

Faith nodded, "Molly looked pretty bad. Was still unconscious when we got here. Rona – I think she broke her arm. Jessie hurt her leg and Estela had a nice gash on her forehead. No one else looked dire. Where'd B head off to?"

"Left with Giles for the hospital, I think." Willow saw Faith scowl. "What?"

"No, she left a few minutes ago, not with the G-man. She didn't tell you where she was going?"

"No," Willow said slowly, concerned.

"Just took off, walked out the door and right past me. Didn't even see me. She looked kinda lost in thought, walked off down the street. Guess she needed some space too," Faith said bitterly.

"You okay?"

"Five by five."

"I don't believe you."

"Just a little pissed."

"At Buffy?"

"No. Yes. At what happened. One of the girls… she didn't make it out."

Willow nodded sadly. Kennedy had been the one to tell the girls that had stayed at the house that Diane wasn't coming back.

"I just feel like… like it's my fault. You know?"

"Faith…"

"I know. She wasn't even with me. She was with B the whole time. But I still feel responsible. Still feel like I coulda done something."

"We all feel like that sometimes. Especially now, with the girls looking to us for what to do. Every death feels like it's your fault. And I know this isn't what you want to hear, but she's not the first Potential we've lost. It… it happens."

"B should have said something to them," the Slayer mumbled quietly.

Willow felt confused, "What?"

The Slayer sighed but spoke up, "Back at the church, on the way home, just now; at some point since it happened. She should have said something to them. They were all… freaked about what happened. That Diane died. It just seemed like she should have said something, to make 'em feel better. She couldn't even bother to do that."

Willow considered this. The old Buffy probably would have done just that, console the scared girls. But the new Buffy, the hardened girl leading them into battle against The First Evil… not so much. She was more with the motivating and less with the comforting.

"Why didn't you, if you thought they needed it?"

"Not my place."

"Faith," Willow scolded, voice sour.

"Nah, its fine. B's in charge. I get it. It's just… awkward. I want to do something, but I don't want to step on the Boss Lady's toes."

"Faith, if you-"

"It's cool, Red. If B doesn't say anything I'll talk to them in the morning, when they've all calmed down. It's been a long night."

"It has."

They sat together in an easy silence, the only sounds were that of their breathing and some night crickets in the bushes.

"I think B's a little pissed too," Faith said after a while.

"At you?"

"No. At herself. For letting the girlies get hurt. For letting Diane…"

"She beats herself up a lot. She knows they look to her for protection. Sometimes I think it's too much of a burden for her, taking it all on. She knows she has us, but… it's Buffy. She still thinks she's alone."

"_One girl in all the world_," Faith recited, "She's the one and only Slayer, Willow, of course it's a burden."

Even in the dull light, the witch could see Faith's emotionless face as she said this, keeping everything behind a blank wall.

"Faith…" Willow tried again.

"Like I said, it's cool. She's the general, I'm just expendable. I'm a mistake. My whole life's been a mistake."

That last sentence pulled at Willow's heart. _Is that really what she thinks?_

"I mean," Faith continued on about Buffy, "She's died how many times now and keeps coming back? Obviously she's not done yet. Why have another Slayer when this one's so dedicated to keep going?"

"Actually," Faith went on casually, dropping her leg so she was straddling the wooden rail, "I guess it works that I was in prison. No way for me to get in the way there. Was easy for The Council to pretend I really _was_ a mistake; that I never happened. I-"

"Faith, stop," the witch said harshly, laying a hand on the other girl's arm.

Faith shrugged her off and jumped off the rail, putting some space between them.

"You're not expendable. You're _not_ a mistake, Faith. You don't understand how much you're needed."

"I shouldn't even be here," the brunette muttered to herself.

"You mean you should be in prison?" When Faith didn't offer any more, Willow continued, "What good were you doing there? Faith, you want to be here, you want to help. I know you want to find redemption, I do too, but prison isn't the place for you. You… you're a Slayer. The Hellmouth is where you're _supposed_ to be."

Faith shook her head.

_She really thinks so little of herself. I thought _I_ had self-esteem issues. I was the shy geek in high school. But I… I never thought my whole life was a mistake._

"This isn't… this isn't just about what's happened here, is it? I mean, the bad stuff here. This, how you feel, isn't just about what's happened in Sunnydale. Is there something else going on?"

Willow knew she'd struck a nerve, asking about Faith's past, if ever so subtly. It was something the brunette didn't talk about. Back when they were in high school, and Faith and Buffy were still the inseparable slaying duo, Faith never offered a lot about her past. She talked about her adventures on her way to Sunnydale, but never what happened before.

For a long moment it looked like Faith was debating with herself. Willow held very still. She didn't want to scare the Slayer off. It looked like Faith was about to open up and Willow didn't want to ruin it.

"I just… I've always messed up. Back… back home, there were people I was supposed to take care of. People who…" she trailed off a moment. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. This… the death, it brings up the past."

Willow took a hesitant step forward, and when it looked like Faith wasn't going to run, she laid her hand on the Slayer's arm again. This time it wasn't shrugged off.

"I know, about it bringing up the past. In there," she indicated inside the house, "I saw the blood on my hands and I… was back. It brought me back to when I killed Warren. It's hard. But we have to keep going."

Faith turned to her, a far-off look in her eyes. She offered the redhead a slight smile. "Thanks."

"Just returning the favour. You let me open up at the diner, helped me. Now let me help you, even just a little bit."

"Thanks. I guess I just… I still got my demons."

Willow nodded quietly, "We all do."

The pair moved to sit down on the porch steps, looking up at the dark sky. A number of stars peaked out of the blanket of darkness, winking at them.

"Been a while since I saw stars."

"Oh?"

"Mmm," Faith sighed quietly. "Three years in the joint. We went outside, sure, but we weren't allowed out at night. And the window in my cell was crap, couldn't really see anything out of it."

"Must have been lonely, not being able to see the stars. I look out at them all the time. They're quiet, they listen."

The girl next to her shrugged, "Didn't really miss them all that much. Back in Boston, the sky's so smoggy and there's so many city lights, you can't see them like you can right now. There's so many."

"I've never been to Boston. I've never been anywhere. Just Sunnydale, my whole life. I mean, L.A. a few times, and I've flown to Florida to visit family once or twice, but that's it really."

"Now that must suck," Faith chuckled, "We've got to get you out of here."

"Yeah. My parents travelled all the time for conferences with work, but I always stayed here. Meek little Willow, too afraid to miss school."

"You are such a nerd," Faith laughed, bumping shoulders with her.

"It has its perks. Faith?" Willow asked, turning to look at the girl next to her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you came back with me."

For a moment it seemed like the other girl was going to say some smug comment, but she seemed to change her mind at the last minute, "Yeah. I'm glad I came back too."


	13. April 9, 1989

_**April 9, 1989**_

"Them's twins?"

"Yeah, Rick, they're twins. Why the fuck else would they look the same?"

Their mother and her male friend stood in the front hall, preparing to leave. The man smelt strongly of beer and cigarettes, so much so that Faith was trying to keep her eyes from tearing. She'd smelt her mother's alcohol before, but this was different. It burned her throat.

"Kinda quiet," Rick commented, scrutinising the girls.

Lara turned to look at Faith and her sister, who were standing a few feet back. "Daniela, don't be rude." Lara was in a good mood at the moment, but her voice was clipped, anger threatening to peak out if they did something wrong.

Dani stood next to Faith, but her body was angled inward, as if ready to jump behind her sister if their mother threw something at them. One of her hands tugged on a ringlet of curls, and Faith knew her sister was trying to keep from sucking her thumb. It was her nervous habit, one that Lara hated. Dani had taken to pulling at her hair to keep her hands busy and not suck her thumb.

"Hi," her voice was so quiet it was hard to tell if she'd said anything at all.

Seeing her mother's glare, Faith too mumbled a, "Uh, hi," to their mother's newest fling.

Their mother just rolled her eyes, "Whatever. There's a new club opened on Tremont we're going to, don't wait up." She spoke to them as if they were much older.

Lara was practically draped over the man. She was dressed in a short, tight, strapless black dress and ripped fishnets that showed off much more than they covered. Tacky silvery jewellery was carelessly tossed around her neck and hands, and the makeup she was wearing did not look good in the bright light of the hallway.

This was the usual way their mother dressed if she was going out.

She wrapped an arm around Rick's neck and sweetly whispered in his ear, and then the two of them made their way out into the porch. It was raining heavily outside, a flash of lightning illuminating Rick opening his umbrella before Lara slamming the door cut off the image.

The two seven year olds stood for a moment, unsure. It was ten at night. Lara had failed to produce dinner, for the second day in a row now. And they were without a baby sitter, not that they had ever had one.

Sticking out her chin stubbornly at her mother's neglect for the night, Faith turned to look at Dani. "Hungry?" she asked as the smaller girl's stomach rumbled.

"Yeah…"

"What do you want for dinner, peanut butter or cereal?"

Dani's eyes lit up excitedly, "_Cap'n Crunch_?"

Faith smiled and led the way to the small kitchen. She opened one of the bottom cupboards and after searching a moment produced a box of the requested cereal. She shook it and decided there was enough for the both of them.

"Hold this," she instructed her sister as she used a chair to climb onto the counter. Opening another cupboard, she got out two cereal bowls and two glasses. She then hopped down and grabbed two spoons.

Dani, having gotten the carton of milk out of the refrigerator, commented, "Faithie… the cereal is crunchy."

"It's supposed to be, Dani, its cereal."

"No, it's…" she struggled for an appropriate word, "it's… hard." The smaller girl held out a handful of the cereal to her sister.

Faith took the offered food and popped it into her mouth, eyebrows rising as she chewed. "Oh… it's a little stale. 'S'okay if we add milk, I guess."

"Okay."

As the two girls sat down to eat, Faith looked out the window. She wondered how it was possible her mother could care so little about them. The other kids at school had parents who made dinner for them, told them they loved them, and were around most of the time. Lara was none of those things.

Lara had screaming fits in the middle of the night, she brought home different men all the time, and spent money she didn't have because she rarely went to work.

And because of this, Faith knew she had to be the responsible one. She had to take care of Dani and herself since their mother wouldn't. Faith was still a child, and enjoyed playing with her sister and doing fun things with the neighbour kids, but she also had to grow herself up. At seven years old, Faith had already identified the things her mother lacked in terms of parenting and was trying to do them herself.

And Faith knew she had to do them, because Dani couldn't.

Their teacher said Dani was a slow learner, had said something about a mental disability. Lara's favourite expression about Dani was that she was "dumb and retarded."

They were twins – Faith born two minutes before her sister - but Faith and Dani were very different.

Both girls had the same dark chocolate mane, though Dani's were more ringlet curls compared to Faith's loose waves. Their eyes sat in the same place in their tanned faces, but the expressions they held were polar opposites. Faith's eyes were pensive and guarded, holding back all the horrors she'd witnessed at such a young age. Dani's, in contrast, were usually expressive and cheerful. In fact, unless facing her mother, Dani always had a smile on.

Though they were the same size, Dani always came off as the smaller of the two. She was only a hair thinner and shorter than Faith, but easily curled in on herself in situations where Faith defiantly stood her ground. Faith was stubborn; Dani was shy.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Dani asked as she munched on her cereal.

"The rain. It washes everything else away, why can't it wash the bad stuff away too?"

"Bad stuff?"

"Nothing," Faith said, shaking her head. She didn't like speaking badly about their mother in front of her sister. Dani understood that their mother was mean and yelled, but she was much more innocent and naïve than Faith. Dani was still confused by their mother, still under the impression that Lara loved them.

Dani didn't understand the rules of survival the way Faith did.

"I don't like the rain. It's loud."

Faith nodded in agreement, "That's the thunder."

"Brandon K. says the thunder happens when God is bowling," Dani said, referring to someone in their class at school.

"Brandon B.," Dani continued when Faith didn't answer, "says the thunder happens when God is mad."

"I don't know, Dani."

"I like Brandon K.'s one better," the younger girl said innocently. "Have we ever gone bowling?"

Faith shook her head.

"I like that one better. God is supposed to be nice, right? Why would he yell?"

"I… I don't know, Dani," Faith repeated.

Her sister frowned at her.

"Faithie… why does Mama yell? Why does she get mad when we don't do anything wrong?"

"I don't know, Dani!" Faith said abruptly, pushing her chair back from the table. She left the room, retreating to their bedroom. She lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. There was a water stain on it shaped like a rabbit.

Dani hovered at the door, thumb in her mouth. "Sorry," she said, speaking around her thumb.

"It's not your fault, Dani."

"I didn't mean to make you mad."

Faith sat up and beckoned her sister to sit next to her. "I don't know why Mom yells. She just… she gets mad easily."

"I don't like her when she's mad. I like her when she's happy. Like last week, when we got to paint the door."

Faith smiled slightly at the memory. They had come home from school to find their mother dressed in old clothes and little make-up, with old sheets lying in the front hallway. Lara had decided she wanted to paint their front door green. Faith knew it wouldn't be long before their mother grew annoyed of the colour and painted it back to its original white colour, but hadn't argued when Lara insisted the girls help her paint it.

"Yeah, I like her when she's happy too."


	14. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

A few hours later found Faith in almost the same place; sitting on the porch, smoking a cigarette, and talking to a Scooby.

She and Willow had stayed outside for a while before deciding to get some sleep. Well, Willow managed to fall asleep. Faith only dozed in and out of consciousness for a little while. She was still a little wired form the fight at the church, and her brain was going a mile a minute.

She was mainly thinking about Buffy and Diane.

Diane, because she felt guilty.

Buffy… well she wasn't exactly sure what emotion to label her feelings towards her sister Slayer at the moment; it was a tie between sympathy and annoyance.

She'd laid in the bed for a while, listening to the deep breathing of the other people in the room, letting her eyes close only to have them jerk open again as her mind suddenly came up with a new thought. Eventually she'd given up on the sleeping thing altogether.

She had rolled over, taking a moment to look at Willow in the darkness. Even in her sleep the redhead looked troubled. Her lips were set in a frown, and even though she was asleep, her body looked tense. Throughout the past two nights Faith had groggily been awoken to the sound of Willow whimpering in her sleep.

_Nightmares._

Faith knew instinctively what the witch was dreaming about. She was reliving what had happened., when her girl had died and when she'd gone after the guy who'd shot her, Warren. Faith knew that in her dreams, Willow was reliving that day over and over again, having the events change but the outcome always be the same.

Faith knew because it happened to her too. Less now, but every so often the guilt would trickle over into her subconscious and she'd relive all the horrible thing's she'd done while in Sunnydale; killing the Deputy Mayor, joining the Mayor, killing the professor, and going after Buffy and her friends and family time and time again.

Silently, she had reached out a hand, brushing the sleeping girl's hair behind her ears. Willow was a good person; she didn't deserve to be plagued by nightmares of her past.

Faith had let her eyes linger a moment longer, listening to the steady breathing of the redhead as she settled under Faith's touch. Then, as quietly as possible, Faith had gotten out of bed and slipped down the stairs.

Once on the main floor the brunette Slayer had turned on the coffee maker, poured herself a cup, and went out onto the porch. It was really early, the sun's rays only starting to peek up from the horizon. Faith couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten up this early.

Cup of java in hand, Faith sat down on the porch steps, watching the stillness of Revello Drive as it woke up for another day. There weren't a whole lot of cars parked in the neighbour's driveways or on the road. The street was joining the rest of Sunnydale in becoming a ghost town.

It was creepy to watch, to say the least.

Close to an hour later, she heard the front door open and looked over her shoulder to see Xander. The dark-haired man, with his own cup of coffee, sat down next to her on the stairs. They sat in silence together for a while, just enjoying each other's company and sipping their coffees.

"So," Faith finally broke the silence, watching a bird hop around the lawn, "why are things so tense with you and the blonde chick?" She paused to get the name right, knowing this wasn't the time for nicknames. "Anya? Thought you two were tight."

Xander stared straight ahead as he replied, "I swore to myself I was going to marry that woman."

The Slayer turned to her partner, intrigued, "Seriously? You, with the married life? Good on you, Xand."

The carpenter gave a half smile, "Yup. Proposed to her and everything. The wedding was supposed to be last year."

"What happened?"

Xander took a sip of his coffee before answering, "I left her at the altar."

Faith felt her mouth drop slightly. She wasn't expecting that. "Damn," she cursed.

"Yeah."

"Why the cold feet?"

"It was just… too much. I saw my family, all the horribleness of it, and I didn't want that. I didn't want to make Anya's life miserable as I turned into my father."

_Sounds an awful lot like me not wanting to turn into my mother._

"Jeez, Xand, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. We're… well, she can stand to be in the same room as me, which is an improvement. She's still mad, but she's not trying to turn me into a goat or anything anymore."

"Right, demon."

"Former demon. For the second time."

"Huh?"

Xander smiled and shook his head, laughter in his eyes, "She was a human, then a demon for a thousand years. Then she was turned into a human, then she became a demon again, and now she's human. Again."

"The chick's a little twisted," Faith stated. She didn't know the blonde too well, Anya had made a point of staying away from Faith the past few days. But she knew the girl was blunt and a little odd, probably came from being a demon for so long. "You still love her?"

"With all my heart," Xander answered without hesitation.

They settled back into silence for some time, just watching the world wake up. Through the front door Faith could hear the Potentials beginning to wake up, bickering about the bathroom and about breakfast and who was going to make it for them.

Just as she was getting ready to head inside, she felt a familiar tingle, the one letting her know the other Slayer was near-by. Sure enough, a few moments later Buffy could be seen walking down the street towards the house.

"Heya, Buff," Xander greeted her as she made her way up the driveway.

"Hey," the Slayer sighed heavily.

"Where've you been?" Xander asked.

Buffy stood and leaned against the railing in front of where the pair was sitting. "Out," was her clipped reply.

Faith huffed, "No shit, Blondie."

That earned her a glare from said blonde girl.

"Sit down, join us for a warm one," Xander encouraged.

"You're drinking beer this early in the morning?"

"Coffee," the man explained, smirking slightly. "A beer would be a cold one."

"Whatever," Buffy answered. "I'm really not in the mood for coffee."

"Smoke?" Faith offered as she brought her own to her lips.

The older Slayer's face grimaced as she made a disgruntled noise, "Elch, no thanks."

"Suit yourself," Faith laughed, rolling her eyes.

"What are you guys doing up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep," both Xander and Faith answered at the same time.

"Gotta love unintentional unison," Xander laughed as he and the brunette high-fived.

Buffy looked to Xander, her face wearing a curious expression, "Shouldn't you be at home, looking after the girls?"

The brunette man shook his head, "Nope. Giles is there. He traded shifts at the hospital with Anya. I figured since it's still a little tense between you two," he said, referring to the incident involving the attack on Spike, "I offered to let him sleep at my place."

Faith shook her head slightly, still not quite comprehending why Giles had been in on the Principal's attack on the vampire. If Buffy said Spike was on their side, why would anyone in their right mind go against her?

_Especially if she's banging the vamp. That's like, double the reason not to kill him._

"I think we should stop using your apartment to house some of the Potentials," Buffy said, looking at Xander with a stern expression. Her eyes flicked to Faith for a moment before going back to her friend, "I want to keep all the girls safe, together. I think it's better if we all stay here."

"There's only so much room here, B."

Buffy gave Faith an 'I wasn't talking to you' look before looking back at the carpenter, "It's better if we're all there to protect them. It's better for them to all be in the same place."

Faith bit her lip to keep from saying out loud what she was thinking. _It's also easier for the First to attack them if they're all together._ She figured Buffy didn't need to hear that.

Buffy didn't need to hear that from _her_ anyway, since Xander voiced almost the same comment. "Yeah, but it's also easier for the First to stage an attack if they're all in the same place."

"Xander, I really need you on my side right now. I need all of you on my side right now. The First-"

"We'll make it, Buff," Xander interrupted, smiling sincerely.

"Just gotta keep going one day at a time," Faith added.

Buffy turned on the younger Slayer, "Don't you think I know that," she snapped, "I've been telling myself that for weeks, months. Hell, Faith, I've been telling myself that for years. Long before you came along."

Faith held her hands up in surrender, leaning away from the blonde's anger. "Easy, B. I didn't mean it like that."

"Buffy," Xander said gently.

"Sorry, I'm just a little tired," the blonde apologized without making eye contact with Faith, "Guess I'm a little snappy."

"Have you been out all night?"

"Yeah."

"Where to?"

"Around. Everybody's packing up and leaving."

"Haven't people been leaving for weeks now?" Faith asked.

"A little at a time. But now downtown's packed with cars and people making their getaway. It's like what we studied in History, the exodo thingy of Jews."

"I think the word you're looking for is exodus, Buff."

"Whatever. A lot of people are leaving. I saw Clem."

"Clem, our favourite demon man. How's he doing?"

"Okay. He was leaving too."

"Demon?" Faith asked.

Buffy clarified, "Good demon; of the not harming people variety. He's a…" Buffy paused, "Actually, I have no idea what kind of demon he is."

"He's got wrinkly skin," Xander added, glancing at Faith before continuing. "He was leaving?"

"Mmm," Buffy nodded absentmindedly. "He said most of the vamps in Sunnydale have already skipped town. Most of the lower demons too. Only a few nests of big and uglies sticking around."

Xander looked thoughtful, "You mentioned that the other night, lots of demons, not a lot of vamps."

"I think because the vampires are smart enough to leave town when the Hellmouth starts acting up."

"Unless," Faith replied, already regretting opening her mouth, "the demons staying behind are being protected by something."

"The First. Caleb. Whatever their connection is," Buffy sighed heavily, "I'm gonna head inside, going to try to sleep for a little bit. Faith," she looked at the other Slayer, "Wake me up in an hour, we need to work on some more training with the girls." With that she went inside the house.

"Damn, this is all just messed up."

"That's Sunnydale for you," Xander said without the usual smile in his voice, "The end of the world is always here."


	15. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Willow dropped down on the couch heavily and leaned her head against the back. She was exhausted and it was barely noon.

Things were getting a little hectic around the old Summers homestead, and not because there were teen girls everywhere. Yes, they seemed to be always underfoot, but that wasn't why things were getting hectic.

To Willow, it seemed like the Slayers and the Potentials were the only ones not caught up in the hectic-ness of the day so far. The Slayers had been working with the girls all morning, teaching, training, and trying to make some progress.

_They have the easy job._

Willow and Xander had both driven, in separate cars, to Xander's apartment to meet up with Giles, who was watching over the few girls staying there. Then the three Scoobies had carted the girls back to the Summers' residence so they could be in on the training.

Then, again with the necessity of separate cars, Willow and Xander had driven to the hospital. They'd left Giles and Andrew with the instructions of making food for all the Slayers in Training, who would no doubt be as hungry as a herd of elephants by lunchtime after a morning of working out.

Willow felt bad for Giles. Andrew wasn't a bad guy, he was just… annoying sometimes.

Willow and Xander had then driven to the hospital; Xander to pick up the girls staying there, who were being released from their over-night stay, and Willow to pick up Anya.

Xander was then responsible for driving the four girls injured in the fight last night, and Shannon, the one attacked by Caleb the night before, back to the house. The five were all in varying stages of getting better, but Buffy wanted them back as soon as possible.

_And Anya and I got to spend the morning together. Which would have been fun if we were just hanging out at the Espresso Pump. But no. Work to do. Of course. Stupid untimely ultimate evil._

They had had two basic jobs. Stop by the police station to try to find info on the insane preacher man, and have a chat with some of Anya's demon informants to try to find any info on the strangely super-powered preacher man.

"So, what did we find out?" a freshly showered Buffy asked, entering the living room and interrupting Willow's cat nap.

"Is everybody coming?"

"Yup," Buffy nodded cheerfully, "Just grabbing some grub. Here," she said, holding a plate out to the tired witch, "Giles and Andrew made sandwiches and ravioli."

"Um, kind of a weird combination."

"Yes, well," Giles said, entering the room with his own plate of food, followed by the rest of the Scoobies, "we are running on limited resources."

"And Giles wouldn't let me make spaghetti. I told him I could. I took home economics in high school, I know how to cook pasta," the young man insisted as he and the rest of the Scoobies entered the room and sat down in various places to eat lunch and strategize.

"Andrew, you shouldn't admit that to people," Dawn stage-whispered.

"Anyway," Buffy said with an eye roll, "how did you two make out."

Willow started, "The police station-"

"Principal Wood!" Dawn said suddenly, looking over to where the dark-skinned man was standing in the front hall.

"Hey, the meeting hasn't started yet, has it?"

"Just in time," Xander informed him.

"Robin," Buffy said, "Missed you last night."

"Oh?" His face looked confused. _Probably because she all but told him to stay away until he wasn't ready to kill Spike any more._

_I really hope that's all over, we need all the help we can get._

Buffy filled him in briefly on what went down with Caleb last night as he joined the rest of the Scoobies in the living room.

"Sorry I missed out," he said when she'd finished. "I was-"

"Doesn't matter. We all good?" She asked, giving him a dark look.

He nodded slowly, "We're good."

_So no more trying to kill Spike. How nice,_ Willow thought to herself. _He was probably off licking his wounds until he couldn't bear to be away from the fight any more. From what Buffy's said, he's a major demon-hunter-action-man. I bet he doesn't like being left out of the loop._

"Okay then. Glad to have you back. But shouldn't you be at school?"

"Sunnydale High is officially closed for business. I don't want any more students hanging around there knowing that army is underneath."

"Good plan. So, Willow, the police station."

Before the witch could begin speaking however, Faith coughed rather loudly, with a pointed look at Buffy.

"Right," the blonde smiled wryly, "Faith, Robin Wood. Robin, Faith Lehane."

"Ah," he laughed, "so you're the other Slayer."

"And you're the principal who's been-"

"Can the introductions wait until _after_ we've had the meeting?" Buffy asked. Willow noticed her friend's chipper mood from only a few moments ago was fading fast.

"O-kay," Willow said slowly, "So, the police station didn't offer up a whole lot." Out of the corner of her eye she watched Faith scoping out the principal, probably deciding for herself if he was a good fighter or not. "Anya and I searched their database, got a few records on incidents of violence and connections to religious institutions," the redhead replied as she ran a hand through her hair.

"How'd you pull that?" Xander asked.

"Uh, a small – and I'm stressing small here – spell. Not so much a spell as, um, influencing them to let us look through their records."

Faith perked up, "Like the one you used the other night, when we pulled into town."

"Yeah," the witch said, forcing a smile. The enchantment had gone fine, no black hair or vein-y skin incidents. But it had taken a lot out of her to hold it for so long. She needed to first convince the police that she and Anya were government officials and were allowed access to their records database, continue the enchantment while they were searching because one of the officers had offered to help, and then hold the spell a bit longer as they left the building so they weren't stopped and questioned for why they had been there.

_And it's not so much the spell I'm tired from, it's from the stupid portal shift that happened later._

"What did you find out?"

"The male cop was very forward in offering me his phone number," Anya stated. "What?" she asked when everyone in the room turned to look at her.

"Ahm, well," Giles said, already in his tell-tale process of cleaning his glasses, "I believe Andrew was inquiring about Caleb."

"Oh. Caleb, no last name, is an insane priest and serial killer. At least four murders across the Midwest have been traced to him."

"Doesn't _he_ sound like someone you'd want to invite to a party?" Xander joked.

_Why do we have to have the meeting right now?_ Willow wondered. _I've got a headache the size of a hippo and I feel all weird from the portal. I can feel a nosebleed coming on, I just know it. Oh, meditation would be so good right now. It would get rid of the headache and the temporal-tinglies._

Willow forced herself to focus on the discussion going on without her. Her mental babble was as bad as her verbal one sometimes.

"…demon contacts?" Buffy was asking. "What did you find out?"

"Nothing on our psycho preacher," Willow offered. "But we got some information on the übervamps."

"Yes," the former vengeance demon smiled, "my old contacts provided us with some interesting news. They can be staked through the heart, which we didn't know; you just have to get through their incredibly hard sternums, which Buffy's tried."

"I thought you said B killed the übervamp."

"The First managed to get the seal open once, and we know there's an army under there," Buffy sighed, reclining back on the couch next to Willow, "I'm guessing with Caleb in town, it's going to try it again."

"Also that sunlight works, if they come out in the day, which they don't," Anya continued happily, "And their claws are strong enough to shred flesh, which none of us have had the pleasure of experiencing yet."

"How fun," Robin stated flatly.

"So… we don't know a whole lot more, do we?" Dawn asked sadly.

Willow agreed internally, she and Anya hadn't delivered much in the way of information for the gang. They'd gone to great lengths to get it, including going through a portal shift similar to what Rack used to use to cloak his hideout, but the info they'd returned with didn't offer a whole lot of prospects.

The portal hadn't been overly painful for the witch, but going through it had been difficult from a magic prospective. Once they'd stepped through, Willow had needed a moment to regain her composure, forcing her walls back up and making sure the power inside her didn't take control. Anya had just assumed she wasn't used to traveling though portals.

Willow felt it was safer to let her think that. They didn't need to know about it, she hadn't lost control. It had just been like she'd been spinning in circles for hours and suddenly tried to stop; everything in her mind seemed to shift and mix about.

"Hey, it's okay," Xander said, trying to keep the group optimistic, "We've got a start, now we just need to work from there."

"I say we focus on two things," Buffy said, taking charge, "Why Caleb is super strong and what is his connection to The First."

"Most likely those two are connected," Giles added. "How strong would you say he was?"

"Me, brick wall twenty feet away, ouch," Buffy explained. At Giles disapproving look she continued, "He was able to toss me pretty far with one blow. I'm saying he's up there with Glory strength wise."

"Who's Glory?"

Willow turned to Andrew. "A Hell Goddess we defeated," she answered simply.

"You think preacher man's a god?" Faith asked, looking a little worried, "That's wonderful."

"I don't think so. When we were inside, he introduced himself as The First's right hand. Well, he said the Lord's right hand, but then he said he worked for The First, so…"

"So The First is a god?" Andrew asked with a confused face.

"The First is not a god," Giles shook his head in annoyance, "There are no gods in this battle. If he is a man of faith, however twisted, referring to his master as The Lord would make sense. However," he looked at Buffy, "none of the text we've read mentioned anything about The First having any backup besides the Bringers."

"Oh, I know that look. Research time?"

Giles nodded.

"But we've gone through all the books."

Giles gave her a hardened look.

Buffy sighed dramatically, "Okay people, let's hit the books. See if we can find any references of an agent of The First with super strength. Andrew, the girls are cooling down outside from our session, go let them know they can start fighting over the shower now."

The young man nodded and left the room.

"Where's Spike?"

"Downstairs sleeping," Buffy answered her sister. "I'll go let him know its book time." The blonde got up off the couch and made her way to the basement.

"Has anyone actually seen Spike do research?" Xander snickered as he, Robin and Giles sat down at the table at the other end of the room, each grabbing a book from the pile. Everyone followed suit in taking a volume and getting comfortable.

Willow, three books in hand, flopped back on the couch.

_Oh yes, research is just the thing my aching head needs,_ the usually happy research-goer complained internally.

She placed the books on her lap, looking at each of them. _Okay, books, let's see what you've got. Or, well, let's see what's _new_ that you've got, since I've already been through you all._

_Except you,_ Willow thought as she picked up the oldest of the three she'd taken. _I don't believe I've read you yet. Let's start here._

As she opened the book, she felt the couch dip as the brunette Slayer sat down beside her. Willow felt bad, even with a headache she could handle doing research. But Faith? She had less of an attention span for books than Buffy did.

_And that's saying something, because Buffy hates researching._

Faith offered her a smile as she leaned back, resting one elbow on the armrest and flipping open her book.

She felt Dawn sit down on the floor at her feet, a stack of books next to her. Aside from Giles, Dawn was the only one in the group who could give Willow a run for her money as the group's resident bookworm and best researcher.

As the minutes passed, the gang broke off into smaller groups. Giles and Xander were discussing something at the table, Giles pointing to something in the book he had open every now and then. Robin, with a few books in front of him, was spending more time glaring at Spike than reading what was in front of him. Spike was at the table too, reading a book but looking more like he was brooding at it, not happy about having been pulled into research duty.

Andrew was sitting in the big brown chair, an old volume in one hand, and a bag of red liquorice in the other. Buffy and Anya were stretched out on the floor, along with Kennedy, Amanda and Vi, who had offered to help with the bookwork. The Potentials were chatting as they read, and Buffy was shifting positions every few minutes, clearly bored with having to sit still for so long.

_Thank Goddess most of the Potentials are outside or upstairs. There's no way this research party could happen with all the noise they make_, Willow though, looking around. And it was true; the living room was relatively quiet, just the low murmur of the hushes conversations around her and the sound of pages being turned.

_Too bad no one's found anything yet._

Willow couldn't tell if her headache was getting better or worse. Initially, her mind had felt better as she slipped into research mode. The quiet was nice. But now the words were beginning to swim together on the page, making the witch dizzy.

"You okay?" Faith asked lightly. She was now sitting on an angle on the couch, her back against the armrest and her feet up on the edge of the coffee table. Willow was sitting cross legged in the middle, a pile of books on her other side.

"Yeah," Willow replied quietly. "Just a little spent from the magic and portal stuff earlier."

"Portal?"

"Portal-like-thing, from when we were meeting Anya's demon contacts. It kind of gave me a magical headache."

Faith offered her a sympathetic frown, "You should take a break."

The redhead shook her head firmly, "Can't. I'm Research Gal. I'm the one who keeps going after everyone else stops. I can't be the first to put the books away."

"Uhg, this is so boring!" Dawn groaned loudly from her place on the floor, leaning against the base of the couch.

"Find anything," Willow asked, looking down at her.

"Found lots of anythings. Lots and lots of anythings. Just not the kind of anythings we're looking for."

"Is it possible that Caleb is just like… a coincidence?" Robin asked. "Maybe The First just found him and liked his work ethic."

"Yeah," Kennedy added sourly, "You like to kill people, I like to kill people. Let's kill people."

Amanda frowned, "He was really strong, though. More than human."

"Well," Vi offered, "I mean, man of God, in a church a lot. Maybe he prayed for superpowers."

"That's sick," Xander replied.

"Why the church though," Willow asked. "Not the school, where the seal is. It seemed kind of random. I mean, yes, he's a preacher, so a church makes sense. But was there anything special about that one?"

Buffy shook her head, not looking up from her book, "Just an old church. It was called Saint something."

"Saint Patrick," Faith offered, "It was a Catholic church. Was the most rundown looking church I've ever seen."

"Oh yes, I'm sure the former convict spent lots of time in church as a child," Anya stated bluntly.

"Never said-"

"Saint Patrick?" Dawn asked, head popping up suddenly, "Isn't that like, Sunnydale's oldest church?"

Everyone turned to look at the younger of the Summers sisters. "Dawn," Buffy asked, "how do you even know that?"

"Hey, you guys destroyed your high school, I happen to like mine. Until it started, you know, killing people. But I liked the learning part."

Robin laughed, "At least I know I made a difference to one of you."

"I liked our school too!" Amanda added.

"So it's your town's oldest church," Kennedy went on. "Big deal. It's rubble now."

"But was the location significant?" Giles asked.

"I don't know," Buffy said, sitting up and holding her hands up in surrender, "Caleb probably picked it because it's a church so he could feel closer to God or whatever his freakish mind came up with, and he probably picked _that _church because it was out of the way, no one would notice him setting up fort there. It was on the edge of town."

"Okay," Xander said as he closed his book with a thud, "I'm thinking our Slayers and Slayers in Training are getting a little agitated from sitting still too long. I say the study session should be over for now, we can start up again in a few hours."

"Didn't find anything on our mystery man though," Spike said.

"Like I said," Kennedy grumbled, "you kill people, I kill people, let's kill people. Maybe there isn't a connection. You said this place is a Hellmouth? Maybe the Hellmouth gave him superpowers."

"Uhh, okay, we're done," Buffy said, standing up. "You, you, and you," she pointed to the Potentials, "let's get another training session going. Spike, Faith, you too. And you," she looked at Andrew, "grab a few of the girls and get started on dinner. Make sure there's lots, Spike and I are taking some of the girls out on patrol tonight, I don't want them complaining about how hungry they are."

"Willow, can you-"

"Actually, Dawnie, I was going to lay down for a little bit," Willow interrupted. _And meditate. Relaxing my whirling brain before we start up the research again tonight._

The redhead made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom, collapsing down on the bed. Her intentions were clear; sleep first, meditate later. Deal with overrun house and need for more research even later.

_Sleep, my friend, I've missed you._


	16. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Faith liked Xander. Not only was he easy to get along with and a good guy all around, he was the one that Faith could have the most important discussions with without getting crap from any of the others.

Which was exactly what they were doing, having an important, intellectual conversation. The topic had come up while they were in the car, and had carried over into the store.

"I for one think Johnny was the unsung hero of the group. No one seems to get that," Xander stated.

"The Human Torch? No way, man."

"Yes way. He has to put up with Reed being the bossy leader _and_ hooking up with his sister. Reed gets all the credit. All the time."

"Not arguing with you there, Reed's an ass, just not on who the real hero is."

"What?" Xander scoffed, "You're on team Girl Power?"

"No, moron," Faith snapped. "Susan's a whiny bitch. No, I'm talkin' about The Thing. Hands down, Ben's the hero. Totally underestimated, completely ignored. He's the most honest of the group, and you gotta feel bad for the rock monster status."

"You would pick the big and buff guy, wouldn't you? With his – literal – rock hard body and–"

"Quit it, Harris. The sexual innuendos are patented by me. Only I get the eyebrow waggles," Faith laughed, demonstrating said eyebrow waggle.

"Come on," Xander pushed, "You can't honestly tell me you don't think The Fantastic Four would be better off with Johnny leading them."

"Don't think, know."

"Of course you do. Um… these bananas look bad. Skip 'em?"

Faith rolled her eyes, "May as well get them. The girls are bound to eat them anyway. And maybe Chef Andy can make something with them; you make banana bread with bad bananas, right?"

"I think they have to be really bad, like, black bad."

"Whatever, he can figure it out."

"You know, this is nice," Xander said as he scoped through the bananas, "to be able to talk comics with someone besides Andrew. He's even too geeky for me sometimes. Grab some of those grapes?"

Faith walked over to the display and grabbed a bag at random. She wasn't much of a grocery shopper; so long as there wasn't visible mould or whatever on the food, she'd get it. Plus, she'd been in prison the past three years and on their meal plans, so no shopping there. And before that she had been just scraping by, opting for cheap fast food rather than actual groceries.

Currently, she and Xander were doing a grocery run; another one. With all the people staying at Casa de Summers, it was like a constant grocery excursion.

Buffy and Spike had taken most of the Potentials out of a major lesson in Slayerology. Why Spike was going and she wasn't, Faith wasn't going to bother to contemplate. In the two days that she'd been there, Buffy had accepted her presence, but was not ecstatic about it. The brunette had helped out with the training of the newbies during the day, but Buffy had made it apparent that for her regular evening patrol, she wanted to play teacher alone.

Alone meaning with the bleach blonde vampire, of course.

Willow and some of the newly arrived Potentials were out shopping for clothes and toiletries. Faith had noticed the redhead was a little droopy during the research session earlier, but she'd perked right up that evening. Probably because there was shopping involved. Most of the kids got here with almost nothing, so whenever there was a new batch of arrivals, apparently someone would take them out to get some clothes.

This hadn't happened with Faith, but she didn't mind. She was used to scraping by with only the clothes she had on. Though Willow had offered – no, insisted – to get a few things for Faith while she was with the Potentials this evening.

"Here," Faith said, dropping the bag of grapes into the cart.

"You okay?"

"Five by five."

"I'm glad your back Faith, we all are. Everything's just a little tense right now."

"So I've noticed."

"Really. Buffy appreciates you being here," Xander said as he picked up an apple, "even if she doesn't show it." He looked down at the fruit in his hands. "Wow. I just realized how long it's been since I've eaten one of these."

"That long?"

Xander nodded, "Yeah." He tossed it from one hand to the other a few times. "Everything's been so crazy, you start to forget the little things. Simple things like – oh, crap." He'd dropped the apple and it was now rolling on the floor. He stuck his foot out to stop it before it rolled under the display.

Images flashed in Faith's mind.

"_I wouldn't eat that if I were you."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Watch out, the backyard's teeming with them."_

Faith stood transfixed, staring at the apple. "Oh, shit."

"Nah, its fine." Xander said, picking it up and putting it back on the display. "We'll just leave it for someone else to get. Uh, Faith? You alright?"

_The backyard's teeming with them. _

The apple. Dropping the apple. In the dream. It couldn't be a coincidence. The apple had been bleeding.

_The backyard's teeming with them._

"Shit. Xand, come on!" Faith yelled, abandoning the cart and making for the exit. She had no idea what _them_ meant, but something inside her was pushing her into action, putting the Slayer inside her on high alert.

"Faith! Faith, what's wrong?" Xander called, forced to chase after her.

The Slayer dodged a few confused shoppers as she made it out the automatic door only to stop suddenly. Her head whipped back and forth as she looked out into the dimly lit parking lot. _Where did he park the jeep?_

"Faith, what the hell?"

"They're in trouble."

"What? How? How do you know?"

"The apple. Slayer dream. Come on!" Faith spotted the jeep and made for it at full Slayer speed.

* * *

Faith hit the pavement before Xander had put the car in park. She flew up the walkway and opened the front door. And then literally ran into Anya.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"Sorry," Faith muttered as she tried to manoeuvre her way around the flustered blonde.

"Are you two back already with the groceries? That was fast. Where-" Faith didn't hear any more of Anya's question because she'd already made her way through the house and into the kitchen. She halted. What exactly was she looking for?

The brunette took a deep breath to calm down and then stretched out her Slayer senses, trying to feel if there were any nasties about. She felt something, a slight tug. Not a vampire, but there was definitely something else out there.

Carefully, Faith made her way to the back door. Whatever it was, it was outside. She gingerly turned the handle and opened it, stepping out onto the back porch. It was dark out, the sun had set a little over an hour ago.

But the darkness wasn't enough to hide the demon. It was crouched in the middle of the lawn, glowing red eyes watching her. The light spilling out from the kitchen was enough for Faith to make out its features. It was humanoid, its skin a burnt red color. It stood up when it realized Faith had spotted her, and this allowed Faith to see that the creature had four arms, not two, and there was a strange reddish-black slime dripping down the demon's back.

"Faith? Faith, what's out there?"

"Dawn. Stay back," Faith didn't have a chance to listen to the younger Summers' response. The demon lunged forward and Faith's Slayer instincts took over. She threw herself off the porch and collided with the creature, tackling it to the ground. It screamed in protest, a high-pitched, painful sounding shriek that caught Faith off guard. The demon used this to its advantage and flipped their positions, manoeuvring itself on top of her and began trying to suffocate her; two hands on her throat and two hands trying to cover her mouth and nose.

Faith bucked her body upwards and managed to wriggle out of the demon's hold, grasping for air as she got to her feet. She kicked it square in the face before backing up a few steps. When it regained its footing, it attacked again. Faith got in a few good hits, but it was difficult to block the demon's assault when it had four arms working in its favour against her two.

After one particularly nice punch in the jaw the demon staggered back, screeching its unholy cry again. Faith winced; the sound was shrill and threatened to break her ear drums. But the noise was forgotten when she noticed the mouth the noise was coming from. Row upon row of dagger like teeth lined the creature's jaw. Faith had seen programs on TV documenting fish that lived at the bottom of the ocean, with maws that looked like giant suction cups lined with teeth all the way around. That was similar to what she was looking at.

_That. Is. Nasty._

Avoiding the malicious looking mouth, Faith grabbed the thing by its shoulders and hurled it away from her; directly into the large tree in the Summers' backyard. It grunted but didn't move after the impact.

"Oh, for Christ sake," Faith groaned as she looked around the yard.

Including the one she'd been duelling with, there were eight of the demons in total. Anya was fighting one on the porch, Robin was holding his own with two of them, Xander had leaped on the back of one and was bashing his fists into its head, and Dawn was wrestling with one at the far end of the lawn.

And there were two coming right towards Faith.

One managed to grab her from behind, pinning her arms against her body as the other came towards her. Faith hesitated, waiting until it was within reach before lashing out with her legs, smiling in triumph as her booted feet collided with the demon's skull.

Now Faith focused on the one holding her captive. She struggled, trying to break free of its grasp and kicked her legs back, hoping to ram her boots into the demon's shins… if the demon had shins.

Unfortunately for her, the demon had other plans. With another sickening screech from the creature, Faith felt the ring of teeth rip through her leather jacket and into the skin of her shoulder. Faith fought back a scream as the teeth bit into her flesh, and the Slayer tried to focus on the fight instead of the pain. With its jaw clamped down, it had loosened the hold it had on her with its arms. The brunette jerked her arms free and reached up, grabbing it by the shoulders. She then leaned forward and flipped the creature over her. Its bite loosened and after a few punches to the gut, it had completely let go and lay in the dirt at her feet.

She was going to go help out Xander, who was still fighting off the two demons, but Anya's surprised cry caught her attention. On the porch, one of the demons had taken a nasty bite out of her arm – the sleeve of her blouse was already staining with blood – but the creature didn't have a solid grip on her and she'd managed to scramble back a few steps. Faith ran, leaped, and landed on the creature's back.

"Gross," Faith cursed to herself as she felt the damp goo that was covering the demon's back soaking into her clothes. The sudden weight on its back startled the dumb beast and it lost its balance, crashing backwards through the porch rail.

Faith was fairly sure there was something sharp and wood-like poking into her back as she lay trapped between the demon and the broken porch, but she heaved the creature off her and got to her feet. Anya, crafty ex-demon that she was, grabbed one of the broken porch railings and plunged it right into the demon's face.

"Take that, you nasty shirt-ruiner!"

"Nice stab, Blondie."

"Faith!"

Faith turned to look where Anya was pointing. One of the demons had Dawn pinned to the ground, its disgusting mouth clamped down onto the girl's arm.

"Dawn!"

In seconds Faith was standing next to where the couple lay, and delivered a roundhouse kick to the demon's face. There was a sickening crunch of bone and the creature let go of the younger brunette. Dawn sat up and cradled her bleeding arm as Faith beat down on the demon. She managed to get her arms around its thick neck and snapped it. It dropped lifelessly at her feet.

"Dawn, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm – Buffy!"

Standing on the grass stood the blonde slayer, a concerned look on her face. "Dawn! Oh my God, are you okay?"

"Fine. I thought you were out with the Potentials?"

"I couldn't miss the show now could I? How'd you like it Faith. Those demons on par with your killing standards?"

"What?" Faith asked, still running on adrenalin and not able to fully focus on what the blonde was saying.

"You know what I mean, murderer."

"Y-you're not Buffy," the younger Summers stammered.

Dawn was right, Faith realized. The smirk that graced the features before her did not belong to her sister Slayer.

"The First," Faith stated.

"Clever, aren't you? So, Faithie, what'd you think of my demons? I had a friend pick them up all the way from Prague. Aren't they just the cutest?"

The sound of the nickname coming from The First's mouth made her blood boil. "Get out."

"Oh, now, don't be like that. Surely you and I could make some sort of-"

"Dawn!"

Faith's head whipped around at the sound of Buffy's voice. The other Slayer stood at the kitchen door, Spike beside her and a few Potentials looking over her shoulder. Anya stood on the lawn a few feet away, brushing dirt and blood off Xander's clothes, with Robin standing next to them.

"Guess that's my cue to leave," The First whispered as its form disappeared in a quick flash of light.

"Dawn! Dawn, are you okay!" Buffy yelled as she ran over to where her sister kneeled on the grass next to Faith.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine."

The blonde looked to Faith, "What happened?"

"Demon attack."

Buffy glared at the brunette; clearly the destroyed porch and bleeding Scoobies was enough of an indication that something had attacked the house.

_What?_ Faith thought, holding back an eye roll._ You asked._

"What were those?" Xander asked.

"Krveprolití demon," Spike and Anya answered at the same time. They looked at each other and shared an amused grin.

"They're native to Prague, don't normally find them outside Europe," Spike continued.

"You're bleeding," Buffy commented, looking at her sister.

"It bit me."

"They do that," Anya sighed. "They feast on human flesh. But they can't digest the blood, so they secrete it out through pores on their backs."

"So that… gah. Ew. Dead people blood all over me," Xander winced, wind-milling his arms wildly in attempts to get the stuff off him.

"All right, show's over kiddies," Spike said, ushering the Potential girls back inside the house. "Why don't you all head downstairs, go bother Andrew or something."


	17. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

When Willow pulled up in front of the house, she noticed that the jeep was parked haphazardly across the drive way. That was never a good sign.

"Do you people not know how to park your cars here in America?" One of the girls in the backseat asked.

Willow ignored the girl's comment, Jehora her name was. She'd taken three of the Potentials shopping for clothes. They had each staggered into town sometime that afternoon after the research session, two arriving by bus and one hitchhiking. Each of the girls only had a backpack worth of things; not enough to get them through however long this battle with The First lasted.

Jehora was an olive-skinned girl with shortly cropped black hair, and had criticized everything since she'd arrived. How Willow drove, the state of disarray the house was in, how empty the mall was. Willow was growing tired of her.

The other two were a bit more polite. Galina, a Russian girl with dyed blue-black hair had barely spoken the entire time, only asking Willow how much they were allowed to spend on clothes. The third girl was Roslin, a snippy ginger-haired girl with freckles who was very unhappy about having to stay in Sunnydale with a "bunch of freaks."

_What a fun group to add to our already happy family._ Willow though as she parked the car on the road in front of the house. The Slayers in Training count was at twenty now, after losing Diane and with the addition of these three and Shannon, the girl who had been stabbed the night Willow had arrived back in town.

_If we get anymore we may need to consider letting them sleep in tents outside. There's not enough room to house all of them._

"Come on, inside," she said as she led the girls to the door, trying to be cheerful despite Jehora's criticisms.

The minute she opened it however, she knew something was wrong. Looking to her left, she noticed a first-aid kit and most of the Scoobies in the living room. "Okay, go unpack your things upstairs. Find Kennedy, she'll tell you where to go," she said, shooing the girls from the room. "What happened?"

"Krveprolití demon, apparently," Faith said from where she was leaning against the wall. Her unzipped leather jacket was covered in dried blood, as was the shirt underneath, but she appeared to be unharmed.

Dawn was sitting on one of the chairs, arm wrapped in a bandage. Xander was pacing the room, and besides a few bruises, looked fine. Buffy sat on the couch wrapping Anya's arm in a bandage.

"Is everybody okay?"

"Just a little scratched up," Dawn said. "They were flesh eating demons. Spike and Robin are getting rid of their bodies."

"Are the girls alright?"

"They're fine," Buffy answered. "The fight was basically over by the time we got here."

"It's lucky that Faith and Xander showed up, or Anya and I would have been demon-meat."

"Speaking of which," Xander said, looking over at Faith, "How did exactly you know to show up?"

Faith hesitated.

"Wait, you weren't home? Faith, I thought you said you'd keep an eye on everybody while Spike and I took the girls out! They were alone when they were attacked!"

"Chill B, they didn't attack till we got here. The X-man and I went grocery shopping. You were out of food. Again."

"Except we didn't actually bring back any food, because _someone_ tore out of the store like a bat out of hell."

"It was the apple."

"What?" Willow asked, trying her best to follow the conversation as it jumped from one topic to another.

"Xander dropped an apple at the store."

"And you magically knew there were demons in the backyard?" Buffy asked sceptically.

"Yeah, actually. Saw it in a Slayer dream. What?" Faith asked when Buffy gave her a stern look.

"You had a Slayer dream and are only mentioning it now?"

"I kinda forgot about it. I don't remember much of it; part of it just came to me when he dropped the apple."

"Congratulations Xander, your klutziness saved my life," Anya commented flatly.

"You, uh, remember anything else from the dream?" Willow asked.

"Not really. I'll let you know," the brunette answered as she stiffly stood up from the wall and made for the stairs. "I'm gonna go wash some of this blood off me."

"Been a while since we were attacked by regular old demons, hasn't it?" Willow asked, looking over her shoulder at Faith's retreating form.

"It wasn't a regular demon though, not really" Dawn said, standing up to begin pacing the room. "The First said it sent them."

"That's just great." Buffy said angrily, flopping down in Dawn's previous seat. "More agents of Mr. I-Can't-Touch-You-So-I'm-Just-Going-To-Loom-Over-You-And-Taunt-You-Until-I-Can-Find-A-Way-To-Kill-You. That's just wonderful."

"That's quite a mouthful," Xander laughed, "No wonder it just goes by The First. Can you imagine introducing that as your name at family gatherings?"

"I'm going to go check up on the girls, make sure we got everything we needed from the store," Willow said. The redhead took her leave, walking up the stairs and down the hall. She poked her head into Dawn's room, making sure all the girls in there were settled in nicely.

"What about us; some of us are sleeping downstairs," Roslin asked when Willow looked in Buffy's room.

"You guys can go get settled downstairs now, the Scooby meeting should be over."

"Can't you guys pick somewhere better to have your meetings? I mean, that's our bedroom."

"There's not a whole lot of options," Willow answered. "We're trying our best to keep you all safe. Let me know if you need anything."

A mumbled, "Yeah, demon attack tonight. Real safe," could be heard as Willow closed the door, but she chose to ignore it. She had better things to worry about; namely a certain brunette who had scampered from the meeting pretty quickly.

She made her way to her own bedroom and found the door opened a crack. She could hear Faith inside talking.

"I'm ignoring you," the brunette said from the other side of the door. "You're not real. You're not her. So stop wasting your time tryin' to fool me." There was no response, but the Slayer continued talking. "No, she didn't… Doesn't matter anymore, it's in the past now… No! No, she didn't say that… They need me. Willow said-"

Faith's sentence cut off unexpectedly, like she was being interrupted. _The First,_ Willow realized. _It's messing with her._

Willow wanted to go inside and make Faith realize that whatever The First said wasn't real, but she wasn't sure how Faith would react. The Slayer was a private person; it was unlikely she would let Willow intrude like that. She was still debating whether or not to go inside when the dull thump of a book being thrown against a wall came from inside the bedroom.

That made the decision for her. She knocked lightly on the door, "Faith?"

Stepping inside, she found the brunette standing in the middle of the room, a hand running through her brown locks, a book on the floor a few feet away.

"You okay?" Willow asked gently.

"Five by five," she said stiffly. "You heard all that?" Faith asked, gesturing around the room with her hand and then wincing slightly.

"You're hurt." It wasn't a question.

"It's fine," Faith replied, smiling. Willow could tell it was forced.

"Yeah, I heard it," Willow said, answering the other girl's original question. "But I could only hear your side of it. You know it isn't real, right?"

"Sounded real."

"That's what it does, Faith. It gets inside your head. It's trying to get us to turn on each other."

"It looked like B. Kept saying I wasn't needed here. Kept calling me a killer."

"You _are_ needed here," Willow said, stepping further into the room. "Let me see your shoulder."

"It's fine, Red."

"Faith, just let me see, okay? Keep the tough girl act if you have to, but let me take a look at it. You can't teach the Potentials how to protect themselves from demons if your arm hurts too much to move."

The brunette grunted but complied, taking a seat on the bed. Willow was almost disappointed at how easily Faith gave in. She didn't even have her Resolve Face on yet.

Faith stared up at the ceiling as Willow pulled the jacket off. She winced slightly, but otherwise didn't move. Willow dropped the jacked down and turned her attention to the other girl's shoulder. The t-shirt she was wearing was shredded and covered in dried blood, but from what she could see, the wound didn't look very deep.

Willow bent down and pulled a first-aid kit out from under the bed and placed it on the brunette's lap. "Get the gauze and the cleaning solution out," she instructed. "I'm, um, going to have to t-take your shirt off."

Faith nodded, "'S fine. Wait, you have a first-aid kid under your bed?"

"You'd be surprised," Willow said, rolling her eyes, "how many of those are hidden in this house." As gently as she could, she removed Faith's shirt, trying not to jostle her shoulder too much. Faith hissed through her teeth, but remained still.

Willow's hands shook as she dropped the bloodied garment to the floor. She hesitated a moment before dressing the wound, watching Faith watch the ceiling. But it was only a moment; the voice inside her head was practically screaming at her to clean the wound and make sure it had stopped bleeding.

She took the gauze and dampened it with some of the rubbing alcohol, then, as gently as possibly, dabbed the wound. Faith still hadn't moved, but Willow knew Faith was fighting not to show that the liquid stung.

"T-They're not that deep… n-n-no stitches needed."

Faith nodded once, and her body seemed to relax slightly now that Willow had finished cleaning the wound and was applying a bandage.

The redhead's hands were still shaking without her permission. She focused solely on the wound, forcing herself not to notice the brunette's lack of clothing. But the more she tried not to focus on it, the more aware Willow became of the fact that Faith was only wearing a black bra from the waste up. She felt her face flushing.

_Stop it, Willow. Stop it now! She's hurt and all you can think of is-_

"All done!" Willow exclaimed suddenly as she finished applying the bandage and halted her train of thought. Yet seemingly of their own accord, her fingers trailed down Faith's arm, stopping when they were met with a scar that adorned Faith's arm above the elbow.

_Wonder what happened. It looks old, I can barely see it. Wow, her skin is so soft. What with being a Slayer, you'd think her skin wouldn't be so soft, so – whoa, what? Stop, Willow, stop that though right – _

"Faith, can I – um, am I interrupting something?"

At the sound of Dawn's voice Willow jerked her hand away from where it had been tracing Faith's scar. "W-what's that Dawn?" she asked, turning to face her friend.

Dawn just stared, "Um…"

"Hey, kiddo," Faith addressed the younger brunette standing in the doorway. "Care to join? Red and I were about to get down and dirty." She smirked evilly.

Dawn's eyes widened for a moment in surprise but then noticed the reason for Faith's lack of clothes. "You're hurt? Why didn't you say anything downstairs?"

"Because she's the big, bad Slayer. Gotta keep up the image, right Faith?" Buffy asked, walking past her sister into the room. Dawn followed.

"Always," she said as she reclined back on the bed. "You two want somethin'?"

"For starters, you to put a shirt on," Buffy replied, rolling her eyes.

"What," Faith smirked, leaning up on her elbows. "Am I distracting?"

"You wish," the blonde replied.

Willow, who was now standing at the side of the bed, walked over to Faith's bag and tossed the girl a new top.

_Very distracting. Very, very distracting. Too distracting._

_Why is she distracting? It's Faith; comfortable-with-her-body-and-revealingly-dressing-Faith. She was always like this, why is it getting to me now? Why am I having such a hard time – jeeze Rosenberg. Slow year much? It just takes a topless Faith to get you – stop thinking about her!_

"I'm going to go wash my hands off; get ready for bed," Willow chirped loudly. "Feel better, Faith," she said as she quickly grabbed her pyjamas and made her way out of the room.


	18. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"So… you wanted something?" A now fully clothed Faith asked.

"Yeah, I-"

"Actually, Buffy, can I…?" Dawn asked, pointing between Faith and herself. "I was here first."

Buffy looked startled for a moment but nodded and left the room, grumbling to herself.

"I wanted to say thank you," the younger Summers said shyly once the bedroom door was closed.

"For what?"

"Tonight," Dawn answered, coming over and sitting next to the older girl. "You… you saved my life."

"Was nothing, D. Just doing what I do, killin' demons."

"No, Faith, I…" the younger brunette paused for a moment, searching for the right words. "That thing really could have hurt me, killed me, but you didn't even think. You just jumped in there and protected me the way Buffy would have."

"Really, Dawn, it wa-"

"It meant a lot to me, Faith. I know you went to prison and reformed or whatever and came back here to help. And I know you tried apologizing to me for what happened before and I just brushed you off, but you still saved me. Even though I've been really rude to you these last few days, you still saved me. That means a lot more than your apologies ever will. I'm sorry for acting like a spoiled brat and not giving you a second chance."

Faith just stared at her companion. _She's apologizing to me? _She's_ apologizing to _me_?_

"Dawn. Dawn I – you shouldn't be the one apologizing. You're not the one that tied your mom to a bed, terrorized you and attacked your sister when she showed up to save you."

"You were messed up back then."

Faith exhaled loudly, "Understatement."

"But you're not that person anymore." Dawn began fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, "I-I can see how much you've changed. When you came back with Willow I was still mad at you, but I didn't let myself see how much you've changed. For the better.

"I used to really look up to you, you know?" the smaller girl continued, "You were _so_much cooler and nicer to me than my sister was. You treated me like a person, not just like Buffy's kid sister. You listened to me. And when you… when you lost it and came after me and my mom, I-I don't know. I just got so unbelievably mad at you I told myself there was nothing you could do to make up for it."

She stood up and faced Faith, taking the Slayer's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "But I was wrong," she said before exiting the room silently.

It took Faith's brain a moment to process all of what the other girl had said. That was, well that was quite a confession from Dawn. An unexpected confession.

_Maybe coming back was the right thing to do._

And then Buffy entered the room with her game face on and Faith reconsidered that thought. She sighed, "What's up, B?"

"She forgave you?"

Faith nodded her head once.

Buffy bobbed her head as well, "Of course. Heroic Faith saves the day once and all is forgotten."

"B, it's not like-"

"Yeah, Faith, it is," Buffy interrupted. It seemed to Faith that she was being interrupted a lot tonight.

Buffy leaned against the wardrobe, "I am going to say thank you for saving Dawn and the others tonight, Faith. Thank you. But that doesn't magically make everything better. You shouldn't have needed to run in and save her. You and Xander shouldn't have left."

"Didn't know I was under house-arrest."

Faith watched the other Slayer's face harden, "This isn't a game Faith, its war. I have to be able trust that you'll have my back."

"Buffy, I do, I-"

"No, Faith, see," Buffy sighed, "If you hadn't had some weird vision that Dawn was in danger – a vision that we still need to discuss by the way – she could have gotten hurt. She's all I have left Faith. After my mom died, she's the only family I have. I've got Willow and Xander and Giles, but Dawn's my sister. I already gave my life to protect her."

"B, I get it. I messed up. Won't happen again."

"No, you don't get it," Buffy violently pushed off from the wardrobe and started pacing the room. "You don't know what it's like Faith, having a sister. Having that need to protect her, no matter what. Being afraid you'll lose her every time you walk out the door because your life is haunted by monsters and demons. You can't know what it's like. You just can't."

And Buffy left the room before Faith could even think of coming up with a reply.

_Yeah, B_, Faith thought, _I have no idea what you're feeling._

_Whatever, I'm not dealing with her moody bullshit right now._

She reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a book, then tossed it at the light switch on the wall. She smiled in victory when it hit dead on and the lights flicked off. Now the room was only illuminated by the moon outside the window. She lay back, exhausted. Her legs still dangled over the side of the bed, her boots were still on, and she was dirty from the fight in the backyard, but Faith didn't care. She was tired. Tired of it all.

She let her eyes drift closed, hoping she'd feel better in the morning.

_But apparently that's just too much to wish for isn't it,_ Faith thought as she heard the door open.

_If it's Buffy again I am going to pound her ass. I don't care if she's the leader. She needs a good ass-kicking._

She kept her eyes closed, hoping it would hint to whoever was in the room that she was asleep.

"Faith," Willow's voice called lightly as she shook the Slayer's shoulder.

The sleepy brunette groaned and swatted Willow's hand away, "Urmph"

"Faith, the girls are getting ready for bed. They were hanging out in Dawn's room but Giles called curfew."

"And?"

"Kinda saw the way Buffy stormed out of your room. Figured you were in a similar mood. Just wanted to give you a heads up that our roomies were washing up."

"Still not seeing your point, Red. They want to sleep. I want to sleep. Pretty simple equation."

She felt the bed dip slightly as Willow sat down on the other side of the mattress, "Do you want to end up on the floor?"

"Mhph?"

"You look like you just fell on the bed. Kennedy's kind of pissed you ruined their rotating pattern thing, they took turns in the sleeping bags and up here on the bed till you came and pulled seniority. N-not that I mind, you deserve it. But I'm thinking she won't hesitate to push you off the bed."

_Ugg, she's right. The brat has it in for me._

Faith sat up, kicked her boots off, and then reclined back on the bed, lying with her head on the pillow this time.

"No pj's?"

"Give me a minute to work up the will to get up."

"Right. Oh, I picked up some clothes from the store for you; just jeans, a few shirts. I wasn't really sure what you'd want, so I tried to keep it neutral. I figured leather pants were more of a 'try-on in the store' thing."

"Thanks," the Slayer smiled at Willow's kindness.

"So, why did Buffy leave looking a little less than thrilled?"

Faith debated saying nothing but even in the dim light she could see the redhead's encouraging look. "D gave me her forgiveness. B revoked hers."

"Dawnie forgave you?"

"Don't know why. I didn't do anything special. I just killed some demons. Not much to earn forgiveness for after all the crap I've put her family though."

"Look at it from her point of view," Willow said softly as she leaned back against the headboard. "Someone who tried to kill her saved her life without a second thought. Dawn's stubborn, but she's honest. It really means something to her that you'd do that even though she was mad at you."

"Just doing what I do. It's not like I jumped in front of a bus for her."

"You really don't sound happy."

"I liked her better when she didn't like me. The cold shoulder she was giving me? It kept me grounded. Didn't let me forget what I've done to all of you," Faith said, looking up at the ceiling and avoiding the other girl's eye.

"You don't want her forgiveness."

Faith rolled onto her side, facing away from the witch, "I shouldn't be given it that fast."

She heard Willow sigh, "I know how you feel. I came back here, and everyone welcomed me. They were scared of me, but they let me come back into their lives. They accepted me back, even though I didn't want it."

"We're quite a pair, aren't we?" Faith asked as she rolled onto her back again.

Willow laughed softly.

"Just a couple of messed up souls on this God forsaken Earth," Faith muttered.

Right as Faith was drifting off to sleep again the sound of giggling and stomping feet interrupted her, along with the light being turned back on. She opened her eyes and gave a blatantly annoyed look at the three Potentials who entered the room.

"Bathroom's free, if anyone wants it. We were the last ones," Carmen, a Latina girl with long brown hair said as she unrolled her sleeping bag.

"Yeah, but there's no toothpaste left, just so you know. I mean, there's some on the wall, but you probably don't want that."

"Kennedy, why is there toothpaste on the bathroom wall?" Willow asked, sitting up and watching the girls.

"And why didn't you clean it up?" Faith put in.

"Caridad and Chao-Ahn were arguing."

"We weren't arguing," Caridad, a Hispanic girl with light brown hair, insisted, "Kenn was washing her face and I was brushing my teeth and she comes in there and just starts yammering away. I had no idea what she was saying."

_Right, Chao-Ahn's the girl from Shanghai who doesn't speak English. Yeah, I totally let Buffy handle her during the training session yesterday; I had no idea what she was saying. Heh._

"So you threw toothpaste at her?" Willow asked.

"After Chao-Ahn hit her with a hairbrush," Kennedy smirked. "And we didn't clean it up because it was too high up, our short little arms couldn't reach."

"Short arms my ass," Faith smirked, getting up and grabbing a change of clothes. She was wide awake now and figured she may as well go change into something less blood-and-dirt-covered to sleep in.

"You've got five minutes or I'm taking your place on the bed," Kennedy threatened right as Faith was stepping out of the room.

Faith looked back over her shoulder at the younger brunette, "Just try me. I've got years on you, kiddo."

"Kennedy," Willow sighed, "It's been a long night, just let Faith have the bed."

Faith caught the dejected look Kennedy gave Willow, and then the longing one she gave her when the redhead turned away.

A knowing smirk appeared on Faith's lips as she entered the bathroom. _Kenn's got a crush on Willow. That's why she's so pissed at me. I took her bed-mate away._

_Dude, I could have so much fun with this._

_And I am not cleaning that up,_ Faith added to herself when she eyed the toothpaste smeared on the bathroom wall.

Faith changed clothes and cleaned herself up, opting for a shower in the morning. That meant either getting up early to use the bathroom before the Potentials took over, or just glaring at them until they let her cut the line.

_Defiantly going with the second one. I'm so tired; I could sleep though to next week. No way am I getting up early._

When she got back to Willow's room the light was off but the lamp on the bedside table was on. The three Potentials were in various stages of unrolling their sleeping bags and getting comfy. Apparently Buffy had been pretty insistent about them rolling up the bags every morning. Made sense though. Who wants to step around sleeping bags all day, especially if most of them were in the family room/main Scooby meeting room downstairs?

Faith slid into the bed and made herself comfortable under the covers. After a moment, she rolled over to face the witch.

"Heya, Red?" she said with a voice laced with honey, laying a hand on the other girl's upper arm.

"Yes?"

"Just wanted to say thank you for patching me up," the Slayer replied slowly with a dimpled smile, careful not to go over the top with sappiness.

She could actually feel the daggers Kennedy was glaring at her.

What she wasn't expecting was Willow's eyes to light up quite so brightly, "No problem, Faith." After a moment she added impishly, "Couldn't have you bleed out on us, I don't think Buffy would like it if we had to replace the carpet because you got blood all over it."

"Couldn't have that," the Slayer replied.

What was even more unexpected than the way Willow's eyes lit up when Faith thanked her, was Faith's reaction to it. She felt her stomach squeeze slightly, pleased at having made the redhead next to her so happy.

_Damn that girl's smile is contagious,_ Faith thought as she was finally able to drift off to sleep.


	19. October 28, 1989

_**October 28, 1989**_

"Hurry up! I'm _cold_!"

"Hang on," Faith fumbled with her key. At seven years old, she and Dani took the bus home alone and had a key to the house. It was a lot of responsibility for girls so young, but considering their mother forgot to even come home some nights, the responsibility was necessary.

Dani jumped up and down where she stood on the step below Faith. "Brr-rrr-rrr," she chanted, wiggling about trying to keep warm.

"You should of brought a warmer coat," Faith teased as she opened the door.

The smaller brunette stuck her tongue out, giggling uncontrollably as she burst into the house. "You can't make me! No coats, no coats, no coats!"

"Fine, freeze. You silly goose," Faith shook her head as she took off her coat. Dani always had a smile on. At school she was quiet and shy around people, but she always had a smile on. Her mood was often infectious.

Their giggle-fest continued as they took off their shoes, but it stopped abruptly when a male voice drifted from down the hall.

"Shit, I thought you said they wouldn't be home till four."

"Christ, what time is it? Daniela, Isabel, you girls home?"

"Yes, Mama." Dani said, walking down the hall and stopping in the doorway to the family room. Her small body leaned against the wall as she peered into the room. Faith followed her sister's actions, opting to stand rather than lean against the wall, but sighed at the sight she was greeted with. Beer bottles, full and empty, were scattered on the coffee table and floor. The ashtray on the table had multiple cigarettes in it, some still letting off smoke. They hadn't been smoking the regular cigarettes; Faith noticed the room smelt sweet instead of smoky.

Lara was lying back on the couch, her shirt undone, while their mother's friend Luke was standing and hastily buttoning up his pants. Luke, Faith knew, had been seeing her mother for at least four months now, a record for Lara.

"The fuck are you starin' at?" Lara asked her daughters.

Faith didn't answer, letting her eyes wander down to her mother's unbuttoned top. Lara followed Faith's eyes, and once she realized what her daughter was looking at, slowly reached up to do-up the buttons. Their mother had no shame. "Why are you home so early?"

"We're not." Dani said, her brows knitting in confusion. "It's the regular time."

"Yes, you are. And how'd you get home? You didn't wait for me to pick you up."

Her expression hardened but Faith didn't speak a word. There was no point in telling her mother that the last time she had picked them up from school was when they were in kindergarten.

"They just gonna stand there?" Luke asked. "Why don't you kids go upstairs, so your mom and I can get back to… doing grown-up things."

Faith's cheek twitched. She knew exactly what they had been doing. From the time she was five Faith had had a very good idea of her mother's sex life. Lara had no concept of concealing things from her daughters. If she stumbled home drunk at three in the morning with a man in toe intending on having sex with him, she never tried to hide it. The walls were thin.

The girls both turned to go, but stopped at their mother's call of, "Did I say you could leave?"

Faith glanced back at her mother. The look she wore was much older than her seven years. "Nope. But since he asked so nicely…"

"Take that sassy look off your face, Isabel!" Faith flinched back at the sharp edge of her mother's voice.

Lara took a deep breath, then, smiling sweetly, continued speaking, "Now, why don't you tell me about your school day, Isabel?"

Faith stiffened but didn't speak. She would not get in trouble for that. That wasn't her fault.

"Answer me."

After a hesitation Faith muttered, "Nothin' special."

"Bull shit. Don't you lie to me. What the fuck did you do?"

"Nothing. I didn't do anything bad!"

Lara advanced on Faith, grabbing her arm tightly. Faith yelped in sudden pain as her mother squeezed the blue and purple marks from only a few days ago. Bruises were common in the Lehane household. The one Lara was squeezing now Faith had told her teacher had happened because she 'fell out of a tree' though there was no tree involved and saying she had fallen was an outright lie.

A drunken Lara was never a Lara they wanted to be around. She'd flip instantaneously from absentee to semi-caring to abusive; Faith knew her mother was unstable and it was only a matter of time before she truly lost it.

And right now, Lara was getting very close to losing it.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"Lemme go!" Faith yanked her arm out of her mother's grip. "I didn't do anything!" she yelled defiantly.

"Your teacher called me, Isabel; gave me shit about how to raise my daughter. She said you-"

Faith didn't back down, "He was picking on Dani!"

"So ya hit him? You can't go 'round hitting people!"

"You do!" The words were out of her mouth before Faith had time to register she was thinking them.

The cold hand across her cheek sent the young brunette staggering back a few steps. Her own hand immediately went to soothe the reddening spot, but Faith bit down hard on her lip to fight back the tears that sprang to her eyes with the pain. She would not cry in front of her mother.

"How dare you speak to me like that, you fucking piece of trash!" Lara was coming towards Faith again, anger visible in her cold eyes.

Faith had broken one of her own rules, never aggravate her mother.

Unfortunately, it wasn't just her mother; Luke was still in the room. Most of the men in their mother's life were harmless to the girls, but a few joined in the bruise-leaving. Luke was one of them; Dani's bloody nose last week was easy proof.

While Faith had stepped further into the room during the confrontation, Dani had stayed leaning against the wall. She stood trembling, one hand nervously tugging on her hair. Her dark eyes were large with worry and fear, already knowing what was coming. When she saw Luke moving towards her, she bolted up the stairs. Faith too didn't hesitate in breaking away from her mother and running upstairs.

At the top Dani hesitated, unsure where to go. "Dani, go!" Faith shouted as she reached the top step, shoving her sister forward. Dani still remained frozen, so Faith grabbed her arm and dragged her into their room. Spinning on her heels, she pushed the door shut.

When she called her sister's name again the younger girl came out of her daze and helped Faith move the small bureau in front of the door to keep it closed.

"Mama's mad," Dani breathed.

"Yeah," Faith said, placing a gentle hand on the other girl's arm, "Now we have to play a game, okay? The quiet game, you remember that one? Dani, you have to be quiet now."

The trembling girl nodded mutely.

This was another of Faith's rules. Sometimes, if they stayed quiet enough, Lara would forget about them and they would be spared a beating.

Unfortunately, blocking the door and staying quiet was not enough to keep their mother away this time as she began shouting and rattling the door handle. After a futile struggle to open the door, the rattling stopped and was replaced with the louder sound of Luke's booted foot kicking the door. Sure enough, the bureau was shoved forward bit by bit. When there was enough of an opening Lara burst in, her eyes wide in rage.

"Run," Faith urged Dani as she ran at her mother, intent on distracting the woman from the smaller girl.

Lara grabbed a handful of her daughter's hair, nearly yanking Faith off her feet. Faith screamed in pain, but it was drowned out by the sound of her mother's shrieking, "You stupid fucking girl," Lara kept chanting, "you stupid fucking _girl_!"

Faith desperately tried twisting out of her mother's drunken grasp, but the woman held on too tightly. Choosing a new approach, Faith kicked back against her mother's shin. The moment her mother's grip loosened Faith tried to escape from the room.

But Lara grabbed her by the arm again, swinging and shoving the small girl into the bureau.

Faith whimpered at the pain from the edge of the wood impacting her ribs. Sliding down, she landed in a heap on the floor, her breath knocked out of her. Lara loomed overhead, looking down at Faith. She yelled something, but Faith didn't hear it, she was too focused on getting away. Heaving herself up, Faith got her feet back under her and stumbled out the bedroom door.

The moment her eyes registered the scene before her, Faith stopped dead. Luke and Dani stood at the end of her hall, Luke wearing a crazy smile and Dani crying out in pain. The man held his belt in one hand and Dani's arm in a death-grip in the other.

"Dani!"

Luke's head whipped around at the sound of Faith's voice, "Is it your turn now, ya little slut?"

The smaller brunette struggled in the man's grip, trying to break free of her captor. Seeming to have lost interest in her and instead focusing on Faith, Luke shoved Dani out of the way and moved towards Faith.

Faith opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came. She watched, horrified, as Luke's shove sent her sister stumbling backwards. Dani's momentum seemed to halt for a moment as she teetered at the edge of the stairs. But momentum won over and Dani tipped backwards.

Faith's scream mixed with her sister's.

Her legs felt like lead as she moved towards the stairs, running down them after the other girl. Faith cried out again as she spied her sister; Dani lay at the base of the stairs in a steadily growing pool of blood.

Faith dropped to her knees, "Dani? Dani! Dani, get up! Please," Her last word was pleading as she started at her sister's still form.

It wasn't until she was shoved out of the way that Faith registered her mother had reached the bottom of the stairs. Faith sat back on her heels, staying out of her mother's grasp and wiping the moisture from her cheeks.

"She's still breathing. Luke, you fucking idiot! Call an ambulance."

Luke stood a few steps away, nervously running a hand through his hair. "Oh, yeah, Lara? And what are we gonna tell them?"

"The truth, you dumb piece of shit!"

"The truth?!"

"Yes," Lara said, the anger in her voice receding. Turing to look at Faith, Lara smiled wickedly and continued, "We tell them the truth; the girls were playing too close to the top of the stairs. Daniela tripped."


	20. Chapter 16

A/N: In case you can't tell, I had a lot of fun writing this one. Enjoy.

**Chapter 16**

When Willow came down the stairs the next morning she found a rather large mess in the kitchen as well as four extremely guilty-looking faces.

"Um, Dawn, why does it look like something exploded in here?" Willow asked, looking around the room in awe. She'd seen kitchen messes before – it came with living with the Summers' women. Both Buffy and Dawn had had some disastrous meal ideas. But what Willow was seeing now topped it all.

_What the hell happened?_

"Because something did?" The girl had a very sheepish grin on her face.

"We were trying to make pancakes," Molly offered, "and we figured we'd need enough for everyone. So we made… a lot."

"I told them we should just follow the instructions on the box, but no one ever listens to me. 'Oh, look at silly Andrew, he's just a comic book geek, he doesn't know anything about cooking or cleaning or strategizing.'" The young man sat down in a huff on a bar stool. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm sorry we didn't listen to you," Vi said while flipping the pancakes on the stove. "I see our mistake," she eyed the batter dripping off the counter.

Willow was still confused, "So why is there flour…"

"Molly staked the bag," Dawn stated.

"Ah. And why – know what, never mind. It's probably better if I don't know."

The kitchen was a mess. There was flour all over the counter and the floor, as well as all over the four offender's faces and clothes. There were also dirty pots and pans on the counter and in the sink, some covered in pancake batter, some covered in… something else. There were spilt chocolate chips on the bar counter, along with over ten stacks of already-made pancakes ready to be served. And there were banana peels, squished blueberries, and apple sauce containers all over the counter next to the sink.

And there was _something_ in Dawn's hair.

"We were re-enacting the battle at the church," Andrew insisted, "I wanted to have it on film."

Andrew's video-camera was sitting on the counter as well, dripping wet and letting off electrical sparks.

_Well, at least he won't have that thing in our faces anymore. That was getting annoying._

_Buffy will be happy._

_About that anyway. She will not be one with the happy when she sees this._

"Dawn," she asked, trying to stay calm, "what happened?"

The younger Summers sighed and leaned against the counter, "Okay, okay, fine. We wanted to make breakfast for everyone, since everybody seemed a little stressed out last night after the demon attack. And there were a few boxes of pancake batter, so we figured that would be a good idea. So we started making the batter, and Andrew got mad because we didn't follow the instructions _to a tee._"

"If it says add three-quarter cups of water, it doesn't mean pour in a random amount of water. It means add three-quarter cups of water!"

"Hey, they still taste alright. No harm done," Vi argued back.

Willow was still frowning at the group.

"And then," Dawn continued when she saw her friend's stern look, "we kind of got distracted. Molly was telling us about the attack at the church, about when she got hurt, so we started acting it out. Vi was the Bringer. And Andrew was filming it. I was flipping the pancakes."

_Oh no, I can already see where this is going._

"And we were a little too into it," Molly continued, "We were eating the chocolate drops-"

"For the last time, they're called chocolate chips!" Andrew insisted.

"They're not chips, there's no potato in them. Anyway, we were eating the chocolates and getting a little excited, and the bag of flour sort of…"

"Burst open all by itself?" Willow offered, shaking her head. She felt like she was talking to small children.

_Maybe I am, look at them. They're covered in flour. Just like little kids._

"Will, it's not that bad," Dawn smiled, "We'll clean it up. We just wanted to make everyone breakfast. But there are a lot of everyones in this house. A mess was kind of inevitable."

"Dawn, I'm not mad at you for making breakfast, I'm just a little concerned about the state the kitchen is in." As an afterthought she questioned, "And what's in your hair?"

The brunette's eyes widened as she brought her hand to her hair. Pulling it back, she looked at the power on her fingers, "Oh, cinnamon," she said as she licked her fingers clean.

"Why…"

"Well we couldn't just have regular, old, _boring_ pancakes, could we?" Vi asked cheerfully.

"So when we fried-up the batter," Molly explained, "We added things to it. The chocolates, banana, blueberries."

"The apple sauce and cinnamon was my idea!"

"Andrew, I'm still not eating that. It looks gross."

Willow ran a hand through her red tresses, trying to hold back from laughing. "You guys really are something."

"So you're not mad?" Dawn asked.

"No," the redhead said, letting the laugh escape. "But your sister…"

"…Is wondering why no one woke me up when our kitchen was being attacked."

"Buffy!"

"Uh oh."

"It was him!"

"Hey!"

The dishevelled and sleepy-looking Slayer walked into the kitchen and stood next to Willow, staring at the mess just as the witch had done. She took in the sight of the room silently, cataloguing all the damage.

_This is either going to make her laugh or make her scream,_ Willow thought. _Buffy may not be a house-wife, but she likes the kitchen clean._

After a long, painful moment of the blonde surveying the kitchen Vi grabbed a plate and flipped some of the pancakes onto it, offering it to Buffy.

Buffy giggled and the four teens seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Dawn, you really out-did yourself this time. This is worse than the macaroni and salmon pi-"

"We agreed not to talk about that!"

"So you're okay with the mess?" Andrew asked gently.

"Oh, no, I'm not okay with the mess," Buffy shook her head, "You four better clean it up. I'm just happy I don't have to make breakfast for everyone."

"That was the plan," her sister smiled, "Us with the breakfast-making. We figured since all we do is eat the food, we should try making it too."

"It should be noted though," Vi said, passing a plate to Willow, "that we vetoed all of Dawn's ideas. We let her help, but the stuff she wanted to put in the batter?" The small redhead made a disgusted face.

"What? I think peanut butter pancakes would taste good."

"Dawn, even if I was the last man on Earth and the only thing keeping me from being attacked by a mob of angry Vogons was eating your pancakes, I would take my chances with the Vogons."

"What are Vogons?"

Andrew gasped, "Dawn! You've just insulted Douglas Adams with your lack of intelligence and naïve approach to life!"

"Wait, was that an insult? Did you just insult me? Did _you_ just insult _me_?"

"It wasn't just peanut butter," Vi continued, ignoring the pair that continued their banter, "It was peanut butter _and_ jelly. And she suggested ham, and pineapple, and then raisins. I was gagging just thinking about it. Who puts _raisins_ in pancakes?"

"Did she get a little trolleyed last night?"

"Did she wha…?" Buffy asked.

"Was she drinking? Alcohol?" the British girl clarified, "Some of those ideas she gave us… I thought she might be drunk."

"No," Willow laughed, "Dawn is just very… creative when it comes to food."

"How did you manage to keep everyone out of the kitchen?" Buffy asked while she doused her plate with maple syrup.

"Ow!" Dawn yelped as Andrew swatted a spatula in her face. "My God, Andrew, I'm sorry, but I never understand your geeky references! They're lame!"

"I'll show you lame!" He continued to attack the girl with the spatula. Dawn picked up a wooden spoon and the two went at it, duelling in the middle of the kitchen.

Vi and Molly both hastily moved out of their way, opting to stand near Willow and Buffy by the far wall and well away from the swinging kitchen utensils. Willow looked at Dawn with a sceptical expression and Buffy just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"If I were Giles I'd be cleaning my glasses right about now," she muttered.

"There were threats of violence involved. We sternly told them they couldn't come in here until after eight o'clock," Vi said, answering Buffy's question and continuing to ignore Andrew and Dawn, "which gives you," she looked at the display on the microwave, "exactly two minutes before you're stampeded by hungry girls."

Buffy looked to her redheaded friend, "Eat on the back porch?"

Willow nodded, "I really don't want to deal with the crazy teens this early in the morning."

"Let us know if they're scrummy, yeah? We worked really hard on them," Molly said as the witch opened the back door.

Andrew's whine could be heard as Buffy and Willow stepped outside, "What are all these words you're using, I don't understand any of them."

"Andrew, she's British, they use different words where she's from."

"But they don't even make sense! I don't understand why…" the back door closing cut off the rest of the conversation.

Willow's eyes widened when she eyed the pile of bloodied posts of wood and noticed that half of the porch no longer had a railing. "Oh. So, no more railing, then? When did this happen?"

Buffy walked out onto the grass and sat down on one of the patio chairs, "The demon attack last night. Anya said something about using the railing to stab the demons. I wasn't really listening."

"Guess Xander has a new project."

"Oh, won't he be happy? Didn't he only just finish fixing the window last week?" the blonde said, gesturing towards the front of the house. "What kind did you get?"

"Hmm?" Willow asked, sitting down next to Buffy.

"Pancakes, I think I've got banana."

The redhead gingerly stabbed the pancake with her fork and lifted a piece of it to her mouth, "Mmm, blueberry. Yum. Or, I guess I should say 'scrummy.'"

Both girls laughed, and enjoyed eating their pancakes away from the hectic goings-on in the kitchen. They could hear the hungry mob from inside the kitchen, screaming, yelling, and sounding like they were slaughtering a pig. Or Andrew. Both were glad they weren't inside. It was getting to be too much lately.

"They remind me of Xander and Cordelia."

"Huh?" Buffy asked, fork half-way to her mouth.

"Andrew and Dawn."

"Again I say, 'huh?'"

Willow smiled, "Don't you remember, Cordy and Xander used to act just like that before they started dating, arguing and bantering and insulting each other."

"Are you implying my sister is going to starting dating… that thing?"

"Buffy!"

"Come on, Wills," Buffy's tone implied she was serious. "He's weird. And I see weird every day. He's _really_ weird."

"But you have to admit, that back there, with the spatula? That was cute."

"Yeah," Buffy nodded, "it's cute in the 'look there's my puppy, and oh look, my puppy just got run over' kind of way."

"That's just mean."

"You know what else is mean? You suggesting my sister and… Andrew."

"Come on, Buffy," the redhead insisted. To her it was clear as day, the banter the two had going on was almost considered flirting in her book. "The two of them-"

"Are close friends."

"Fine," Willow sighed, "Be close-minded. But I think it's cute."

"Willow, he's evil. He tried to take over the world."

Willow rolled her eyes, "Buffy, you know that argument isn't valid. They were a group of geeks trying to get lucky. Andrew and Jonathan weren't evil, just dumb and caught up in something they shouldn't have been. You can't look at him and say he's evil."

Buffy frowned in defeat, "Fine, I was stretching that."

"At least they can find the fun though, right?" Willow asked. She was happy to see Dawn in the kitchen laughing with the others. Despite the tension you could cut with a chain-saw inside the house and the whole Caleb and The First thing looming over, at least some people were having a good time.

"Fun? I don't think I know that word."

"I know what you mean, no fun to be had when you're fighting to stop the apocalypse."

It bothered the witch how depressing it was getting lately. Everyone was constantly stressed-out and in a panic; caught between being at each other's throats over simple things and looking like death warmed over whenever there was a Scooby Meeting.

What Dawn and the others were doing inside, making people smile, they needed that. Everyone in that house needed a little time away from the doom and gloom. They needed to loosen up a little bit. The girls would all eat their breakfast, and then jump right into training. The redhead knew they called the blonde Drill Sergeant Buffy behind her back. And Willow hated to admit it, but the name was pretty accurate. Buffy was really tough on them.

Given, they needed that. They were in the middle of a war with the original source of evil, so she had to prepare them as best she could. But they needed time to forget about it for a little while.

"You could let them have the day off," Willow said out of nowhere.

"What?"

"The girls, let them take a day off from training," the redhead clarified.

Buffy tuned to look at her, a stern look on her face, "No way, Wills, we can't afford that. Not after last night. If The First is sending demons to the house now, the girls need to know how to fight."

"What was last night, Buffy?" From the other girls confused look, Willow continued, "You and Faith… I think you were pretty hard on her."

The blonde was indignant, "She could have gotten Dawn killed, Willow. Of course I was hard on her."

"You just went off on her pretty fast is all, Buff," Willow tried to ease her friend's anger, "You… you've been really quick to blame her lately, actually."

"And _you've_ been really quick to defend her lately," Buffy said while pushing herself up from her seat. Then she turned, glaring at the redhead.

Willow stood up too; she wasn't going to let Buffy push her down. She wasn't one of the Potential girls, she was Buffy's friend and had a say in this. Firmly, she said, "Buffy, I'm just trying to be nice to her. She needs a friend right now."

"She's a murderer, Willow."

"So am I!" Willow winced at her own outburst; she hadn't meant to say that.

Buffy's eyes widened in disbelief, "So you're on her side now."

"There are no sides, Buffy. It's us, and it's The First. All I'm trying to say is that she came here to help us. She let herself come back, despite how angry she knew you were going to be. You could go a little easier on her."

"You keep defending her, Willow," Buffy said, moving to grab her dirty dishes. As she turned to go back inside she said, "You used to be the one defending my actions, not hers." With that she left the backyard.

Willow dropped back down in her chair in a huff, unsure of what to do.

"She's right," Willow sighed to herself, "I do keep defending Faith. But she deserves being defended. Sure, she's made some mistakes, but she's trying to make up for them. She doesn't need Buffy beating down on her whenever something goes wrong."

A small voice in the back of her mind asked, _is that the only reason you keep defending her?_

"And what does that mean?" she asked, fully aware she was having a conversation with herself.

_Is there a reason why you're acting like this around her? Why you smile whenever you're in the same room as her? Why you were acting the way you were last night, with the blushing and the staring?_

"Are you saying I… no. No, nuh uh, no way. I do not have feelings like that for Faith."

_You sure about that, Willow?_

"Yes I'm sure! I don't have feelings for Faith. I'm just trying to be her friend. She needs that right now. We both need that right now."

_Haven't you noticed the way you-_

"Nope, stop, stop it right now. We aren't having this conversation. _I'm_ not having this conversation. With myself. Uhh, I'm having a conversation with myself. I'm arguing with myself. This needs to stop. Just, go away,_" _she instructed the voice.

But now the thought was planted. Now Willow was thinking about her behaviour around the brunette lately; the way she liked feeling a connection with Faith, the way Faith understood what she was going through because she'd danced with the darkness too. The way she liked being around Faith, because Faith didn't stress her out, Faith allowed her to escape everything that was going on now. She liked the way Faith actually listened to her when she was talking, actually took what the redhead had to say to heart.

Willow liked that. She felt like she could be more of herself around Faith; that Faith wouldn't judge her the way her friends did. Faith understood why Willow was afraid to use her own magic.

And Faith was a new person now, she wasn't the girl she'd been years ago. She was different now. Older, more mature, more sensitive, easy to talk to, with her soft hair, and her chocolate brown eyes that reflected so much of what she was thinking, and her legs that seemed to go on forever, and her lips—

Willow's jaw dropped as the realization hit her, "Oh Goddess," she whispered.

_I'm attracted to Faith!_


	21. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

It was late in the morning when Faith woke up, fully rested and feeling refreshed. She sat up and stretched her arm slowly, testing her shoulder. It was still a little tender, but it felt better. Her Slayer healing had worked wonders.

But it had also left her feeling very hungry. The super-powered healing worked best while she was sleeping, but her metabolism needed a lot of food to be able to keep up with it.

The brunette Slayer slipped into some fresh clothes – new ones, courtesy of Willow – and left the bedroom, intent on heading to the kitchen. When she reached the stairs, her nose detected a familiar sent.

_Somebody made pancakes?_

_Damn, they're probably gone by now._

As she hit the bottom step, she glanced into the living room at the Potentials. It seemed they hadn't killed each other while the house was sleeping; which was a good thing, because with a bunch of moody teenage girls, it was possible.

There were about nine girls in the room, all in various stages of waking up. Some were dressed and ready for the day, some still in their sleepwear; some were sprawled on the couch, some in sleeping bags on the floor. Faith smiled, glad she had been offered a bed to sleep in. She'd been sleeping on a cot for three years, no way was she passing up an actual bed to have a sleeping bag on the floor in a room with a bunch of sugar-high teens.

A few of the girls looked up at her presence, tearing their eyes from the morning news to mumble a "morning, Faith" at her. The Slayer nodded in response and turned to leave, her destination the kitchen to see if there were any pancakes left. But the voice of the newscaster on the TV caught her attention.

"…new candidate for the mayoral race. And now, onto our national news segment. A devastating fire last night has left Willow Grove Behavioural Medical Center in Massachusetts charred to the bone. The fire has left five patients and two orderlies in critical condition at a local hospital. Two patients and a doctor were killed in the flames."

_Whoa, what? Someplace back home?_

Faith whipped around, eyes widening as she focused on the TV. A male reporter sat at a desk reading the teleprompter, "As you can see from our images, the fire raged for quite some time before fire officials were able to put out the flames. Sue Skandori is live at the scene. Sue?"

Faith watched, transfixed, as the image changed to one of a brown-skinned woman standing outside the aforementioned building. It and the surrounding scenery was blackened and blocked off with crime scene tape. Behind her police officers and firefighters could be seen walking in and out of the destroyed building. "Thanks, Tony," the woman said, cheerful despite what she was reporting. "I'm here at what was once the Juvenile Ward of the Willow Grove Behavioural Medical Center in Pittsfield, one of Massachusetts' oldest hospitals for those with serious mental health disorders…"

_Freaky. I remember that place; the bus to school drove past it every day. Wow, how did I even remember that? That was a while ago, back when I was fostering at the Desmond's place._

"…Last night, a little after midnight, the woodlot surrounding the institute caught fire and eventually led to the destruction of the hospital…" Images of the institute flickered on screen, of the building and green forest behind it.

_Willow Grove. Fire. Willow trees. _

Faith stood hypnotized as her mind suddenly threw a memory of the Slayer dream from a week ago at her.

_The tree. The tree that was on fire. It was a willow tree._

_But I already figured that part out. It was Willow. It was telling me she was coming to pick me up from Angel's place. The tree was Willow and the fire was all the bad stuff that happened to her. The little buds on the tree, that was her getting better. Something about a phoenix. I figured that out already._

_So what does this mean?_

_What's so special about this? Why is this important?_

Faith couldn't move. Everything around her faded away as her vision narrowed to what was happening on the TV. The girls chatting, the rustling of the sleeping bags, the growl of her own stomach; it all disappeared as she listened to the report.

"…evacuated, but two patients were trapped inside. A doctor went back inside to try and save them, his name was …"

_She said the place is in Pittsfield. I know that city. It's a little ways away from…_

The Slayer felt her chest squeezing tightly, felt herself being deprived of air.

_No. No, it can't…_

"…possibility of arson…"

Faith wasn't listening to the television anymore. Only a few words here and there were registering with her. She stared blankly ahead, no longer seeing the images on the TV.

Another memory from her dream surged forward.

"_Then who are you?"_

"_Two clocks east… east of the fire."_

_Clocks. Clocks as in hours. Two clocks; two hours. _

_Two hours east of the fire. The fire's in Pittsfield. What's two hours east of Pittsfield?_

_No. No, that can't be right. It's just a coincidence. This is wrong. All wrong. None of this is right. _

"…families of the deceased…"

_Two clocks east of the fire. Two hours east of Pittsfield._

_Boston._

Faith was aware that someone was calling her name, she could hear it being repeated, but she couldn't look away from the TV, couldn't focus on anything else.

"_I'm trapped here, I can't come out by myself; they won't let me. You have to get me out."_

_You have to get me out._

_Trapped here._

_Oh, God. Please, please, no. She can't…_

The brunette felt her heart stop and her stomach drop simultaneously as the thought hit her.

_No._

"…will be investigating the cause of the fire," the woman finished. She then signed off before the program jumped to another segment about a car crash on a local highway.

_This can't be happening. _Faith felt her mind moving sluggishly, she was thinking through molasses. She wasn't moving, wasn't breathing, wasn't freaking out, she was just numbly letting her mind make the connection.

_Daniela._

_Dani. Dani's in danger. The fire, the tree, the screaming, all of it in the dream. It was Dani. _

_No. I told her she'd be safe._

_She's supposed to be safe._

_They told me she'd be safe._

"_I'm trapped here."_

_I broke the promise._

_Dani._

The room tilted violently to one side, spinning around Faith while her mind continued to make the connection. Then it shifted back just as suddenly, leaving her dizzy as her mind whirled.

_She's trapped. She's in danger._

_Dani._

The other girls in the room continued to chat as if nothing was going wrong inside the brunette's head.

"Makes you think, doesn't it?" Jessie stated.

"Yeah, I mean," Vi said sadly, "we're here dealing with demons and monsters, but there are still just some sick people out there. Who would want to burn down a mental hospital?"

"Faith, you okay?"

The sound of Kennedy's voice right next to her ear combined with the girl's hand gently shaking Faith's shoulder made the Slayer jump, violently being pulled from her thoughts and dropped in the present moment.

She staggered back a step, her eyes flicking between Kennedy and the television.

"Faith? What's wrong?"

Faith continued to stare, her mind not fully back in the present yet. She felt the walls closing in on her, felt the air in her lungs being squeezed out.

"Faith?"

"Faith, what's going on?"

"Is she okay?"

"Faith, what's wrong?"

The Slayer backed up a few more steps, then turned and bolted from the room.

_Air, I need air. _

Faith darted into the hallway, making for the front door. Unfortunately Xander was in the way, carrying his carpentry tools inside. Faith didn't wait for him to move, instead changing course and running through the dining room and the kitchen, noticing but not registering the confused faces and startled comments.

She burst out the back door and flew down the steps, running towards the tree in the back yard. She threw herself against it, braced her hands against the trunk as she bent over, gasping. She was trying to draw the much needed air back into her lungs.

Her stomach squeezed and she winced, fearing last night's dinner would make an appearance. Her heart was racing and her vision was swimming as the images from her dream collided with her own memories of her past.

When something touched her shoulder Faith whipped around, startled and prepared for something to be attacking her.

What she was met with instead was Willow. The redhead's face looked flushed, but her green eyes showed only concern.

"Faith," her voice was soft and soothing, "what happened?"

Faith tried to back away, but the trunk of the tree pressed into her back. She felt trapped, and she felt the panic starting to rise again.

Willow was still gently calling her name, her concern growing to worry. She reached out her hand again, softly touching the brunette's shoulder. "Faith, are you okay?"

Faith chewed her lip and shook her head, not trusting her voice.

"What's wrong?"

"I…" she croaked, "I saw… it was-"

"Faith? Willow, is everything alright out there? Is Faith injured?" A male voice sounded from the back door.

"She's fine Giles, just needed a little air."

"Needed a little air?" a different voice, "She almost ran me over. Tell her to be more considerate next time she feels the oxygen supply inside the house isn't adequate enough for her."

"She's fine, Anya."

There was a bang; the back door closing. Faith was left alone again with Willow.

And with everything that was swirling around inside her head.

"Faith? Faith," Willow called her name again, "What did you see? What's got you so freaked?"

_Don't say anything. Don't tell her anything. It's fine. You're fine. Everything's gonna okay and you can just-_

"Faith?" Willow pleaded.

"I…"

"Did you see The First again?"

The Slayer shook her head, "No… it…" She hesitated, unsure whether to tell the girl before her or not. She was Faith; she put up walls and didn't let people in easily. Whenever she let people in, they left her. Always. She was a private person; she didn't like people knowing her business. She wasn't good at trusting people.

"You can tell me, Faith."

_But I trust Willow._

It was the truest thought she could form right now. Amidst everything that was tumbling through her head, she honestly knew she trusted the redhead.

"The… the news. The fire…" Faith tried, unable to form the thoughts in her head into vocal sentences.

"Fire? What fi-oh, you mean that hospital they were showing earlier? I saw that when I came downstairs this morning."

Faith nodded.

"What about it? Why's it got you so spooked?"

"Dan… I think Dani's in danger."

"Who's Dani?"

Faith's voice was very small, a ghostly whisper, "My sister."

If the redhead was surprised at hearing the word sister come out of Faith's mouth, she didn't show it. Instead she just furrowed her brow and asked, "Why do you think she's in danger. Is she… is she at that hospital?"

"Not, not that one…" Faith whispered, losing her nerve. Why was she telling Willow this, why was she opening up? Her mind was screaming at her to run, to take off like she always did. But something was keeping her there.

"Faith, why do you think your sister's in danger?"

"The dream…"

After a moment a look of understanding appeared on the redhead's face, followed quickly by apprehension, "I thought you didn't remember it."

"The fire… it, it triggered something. In the dream, she told me she was trapped, that I needed to go get her."

"What did she say?"

"Trapped… danger… fire. She said she was two clocks away from the fire."

"She what?"

"Two hours."

Willow had a strained expression on, "Faith, explain to me what's going on."

The brunette took a deep breath, trying to calm her shaking hands, "In the dream, she said I needed to go get her, that she was trapped. A-and then she said she was two clocks – hours – away from the fire."

"From the fire on TV?"

"She just said 'the fire.' But that's where she is. The fire on the news is two hours away from where she is. I need to go to her."

It was as simple as that. She needed to go to Dani, she had no other option. She hadn't known before if she should go to Dani or not, but now that she knew Dani might be in danger there was no other option. She had to go now. But as she moved to leave a hand caught her arm, "Now? Right now? Faith, you can't leave, not now."

"Red, I have to." The panic and confusion inside her head was clearing, leaving only determination. She had to go to Dani. She had to make sure the girl was okay.

The redhead's grip on her arm tightened. Faith turned to look at her, trying to convey everything she was feeling to the witch. "Willow, she needs me."

Faith wasn't sure what was going on inside the other girl's head, but there was definitely something. Willow nodded, a sad smile on her face, "Go."

The slayer didn't waver; she took off, running back into the house to gather the few things she had.


	22. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

_A sister?_

_Faith has a sister?_

_When did Faith get a sister?_

Willow followed the brunette back inside the house. It seemed as soon as Willow told Faith to go, the girl went. She had watched the Slayer run back into the house to go get her things at an impossibly fast pace. Willow followed, but much slower.

Her head was still a little befuddled.

She had been outside, coming to the realization that she was attracted to Faith, when who should show up?

Faith.

That made for a few awkward milliseconds. Until she had realized something was very, very wrong with the other girl.

_Faith has a sister, who she thinks is in danger, because of a dream she can't remember. And now she has to go to her. Now, as in, in the middle of the apocalypse. _

Right as the witch placed her foot on the top step of the stairs she heard Buffy's voice saying, "Faith, watch where you're g - where are you going? You're leaving!"

_Oh no. This won't be good._

The redhead hurried to the room she was sharing with Faith. The girl was on her hands and knees by the bed, shoving a few articles of clothing into a bag. Buffy was standing in the middle of the room, her standard "what the hell are you doing?" pose. Hands on hips, lips in a thin line, eyes wide and glaring.

"Have to go," Faith mumbled, not looking up.

"I knew it. I knew you were going to do this. As soon as it gets tough, you're running. That's what your best at, isn't it?"

"Buffy," Willow tried, "it's not like that."

Her friend turned to her, not realizing she was in the room, "Willow?"

"Red?"

"Faith," the redhead said hesitantly, "Just explain to Buffy what you told me-"

"You know what this is? You know what's going on?"

"Buffy, something's wrong. Faith-"

"I can see. She's leaving." She turned back to the brunette, "I knew you being here was too good to be true. Why did you even both coming if you were going to just skip out on us?"

The younger slayer stood up; shouldering the small bag she'd packed. Her eyes were dark but determined as she faced down her sister Slayer, "I'm not skipping out."

Buffy gave her a pointed look, "Your bags beg to differ."

"I'm coming back."

"And I so, totally believe you. Faith, you have a responsibility here, people here depend on you. You can't just walk out that door."

"I have a responsibility to her too, B."

"Her? Someone else out there more important than stopping the apocalypse?"

Willow watched Faith's face harden, flinching at Buffy's harsh words. "Yeah," she said slowly.

With that one simple word Buffy's eyebrows met her hairline. She gaped at the younger Slayer.

The redhead felt her heart being tugged. Faith looked so vulnerable, but so determined at the same time. It was going to be very hard to convince the blonde to let her go.

"Look, Buffy," Willow tried, hoping to sooth her friend's anger. "Something happened; she needs to leave for a while. A-an emergency. But she says she'll be back."

"Who is it, Faith," Buffy asked, ignoring Willow. "Who in the world is so important that you'd drop everything to see?"

Faith chewed her lip, evidence she was debating telling Buffy the truth or not.

_Just tell her,_ Willow encouraged mentally. _There really isn't another way around this._

Faith looked away from Buffy as she answered, "My sister."

"Your si…" the blonde's mouth hung open for a moment, clearly dumbfounded by the bomb Faith had just dropped. "You have a _sister_?"

Faith nodded, still looking at a spot on the wall to Buffy's left.

"Oh, that's rich," Buffy laughed, causing Faith to look back at her again. "You have a sister? Really? Sorry, I'm finding this hard to believe. It's not like you've ever _mentioned_ her before."

"Have I mentioned any of my family to you before?" Faith snapped.

"It's not like I haven't asked."

"It's my private life, B. I don't like to talk about it."

_Buffy, you need to stop. Just let her go._ Willow could see the blonde growing more and more sceptical by the minute, and could see the brunette matching her stride for stride in growing aggravation. This needed to stop. "Buffy, why don't-"

"Clearly," Buffy said, completely cutting the witch off. "I mean, I knew you didn't like talking about your past, Faith. But never mentioning you have siblings? Kinda harsh. What, are you ashamed of her or something?"

_Please tell me she didn't say that. Please, please, please tell me she is smarter than to say something like that. To Faith, of all people. Please, please, please, please, please…_

Faith's eyes darkened further, and Willow was afraid she was going to lunge at the blonde. But Faith clenched her fists and stood rigid, staring down the girl before her and holding-in her anger.

"Ohh," Buffy taunted, "Did I strike a nerve?"

"B, if you want to keep that pretty little head of yours, I'd stop talking. Now."

Willow could see in Faith's eyes that she was deadly serious. She could understand why Buffy was upset, but the blonde was really pushing Faith's buttons and just asking for trouble. Faith was holding back, but the witch wasn't sure for how long.

"I'm just confused here, Faith. You came to Sunnydale, what? Four years ago? You never mention having a sister. And then all of a sudden, you need to go to her? While we're in the middle of the battle of our lives?"

"Buffy," Willow warned quietly. But again, the redhead was ignored.

_Either I forcibly make them stop before someone gets hurt, or I let them fight it out._

_Faith needs this, she needs to do this._

_So I let them fight it out then._

"You don't understand, B."

"Then enlighten me."

"'She's all I have left,'" Faith quoted. "You remember saying that last night, B? 'You don't know what it's like, having a sister. Having that need to protect her. No matter what.' You remember how you felt last night, Buffy? You remember the way your heart squeezed and your lungs choked the moment you realized Dawn was in danger? The way you lashed out at me, because I was the one keeping Dawn from being safe?"

"Faith-"

"You told me," the brunette went on, "last night that I didn't get it, that I didn't know what it's like. But I think you're the one that doesn't know what it's like, B. You have Dawn. You have her here, safe and protected. You get to watch her, look after her. You only know what it's like having Dawn with you.

"But you don't know what it's like having her taken away from you. You don't know what it's like, watching them take your sister away. Telling you there's something wrong with her, that she's broken, that you can't see her anymore. You don't know what it's like, feeling that need to protect her, but not being able to. Physically not being allowed to be there for her when she needs it."

Willow flinched as the Slayer threw her bag down on the bed in frustration, "D's all you have left? Your mom died, what, two years ago? You've been taking care of Dawn by yourself for two years? With your friends helping out? I've been taking care of Dani my whole life. I've been the only one watching out for her, making sure she's okay. Our mother died when we were twelve, B. And that was freedom. You can't even begin to imagine what we went through when she was alive, what Dani had to go through.

"You want to know why I never talk about my past? Because my past was shit. My whole life has been for shit. You live here, in this perfect little world. And yeah, some baddie comes along once in a while and tries to ruin it. But you still get your fuckin' happy ending. You know who your father is. You go to bed at night feeling safe. You had a mother who actually put food on the table. You always had a roof over your head. You were probably twelve the first time you had to make dinner by yourself. Eleven the first time you were left home alone.

"You want to know how old I was?" The girl asked, staring at Buffy. When the blonde didn't answer Faith went on, "I was six. The first time we were left home alone, I was six years old. And that was for a week. Lara ran off to Jersey after some fuckin' bass player and left us alone in the apartment for a week.

"You're the one that doesn't know what it's like, B. Despite all the fucking shit my life has been, it's been worse, because they took her away from me. I wasn't able to protect her.

"I told her she'd be safe there. When they took her away I told her that they'd take care of her. But she comes to me now, telling me she's in danger; that I need to go to her. Screw the fucking apocalypse, B. I haven't lived twenty-one years of fucking torment not to go to her when she needs me."

Willow was taken aback by Faith's outburst. She'd never seen the other girl grow so emotional over something, and didn't think she'd ever heard Faith say so many words at once. Faith was direct and to the point, with as few words as possible. But that… that was painful to hear.

"Faith, I…" Buffy's voice was quiet, apologetic.

"I don't care if you're the fucking general in charge here, B. I'm not asking your permission to leave," her voice softened ever-slightly, "I'm telling you that I'm leaving. I need to get her out of there."

"Wait, you're bringing her back _here_?"

"Not a whole lotta options."

"Faith," Willow asked gently, seeking out the other girl's eyes, "If she isn't safe where she is, how is bringing her here better? Wouldn't she be in more danger here?"

But Buffy answered for her, her voice low but meaningful, "She thinks she can protect her here." She pushed off from the closed door she was leaning on, "I see your point Faith, really, I do. And I'm sorry for… but how is here safer? I know you feel like you can protect her here, that it will make you feel better if you can be near her, but… it doesn't work like that. Be realistic. How is wherever she is more dangerous than the Hellmouth? How do you even know she's in danger?"

Faith looked away.

"Her Slayer dream," Willow said gently.

The blonde's head whipped around to look at the redhead, already in the process of forming a comeback.

_Don't,_ Willow urged mentally. _She doesn't need that right now._

Buffy seemed to understand the meaning behind the look in the witch's eyes, because she closed her mouth a moment before opening it again, changing what she was going to say. "What exactly did she say in the dream?"

_Oh here we go again. Maybe this time she'll be less cryptic, because what she said in the backyard? Much with the not-sense-making._

The younger slayer shook her head, "Fuck it, I don't remember everything. She said she was trapped there. That I have to get her out."

"And this just popped into your head this morning?" Buffy asked flatly.

"No… the fire."

Buffy looked confused, and when it appeared Faith wasn't going to offer any more, Willow expanded, "The fire on the news this morning. I think it triggered a memory for her."

"Uh huh."

"She said she was two clocks east of the fire." Faith's foot was tapping on the ground, clearly impatient about not being able to leave yet.

"And that means…?" The brunette didn't answer, so louder Buffy asked, "Faith, what does that mean?"

"Hours. Two hours. And where she is right now… she's two hours east of where that fire was."

"Which is where?" Willow and Buffy both asked at the same time.

"She…" Willow could see Faith visibly closing herself off and putting up her walls. She wasn't comfortable talking about this, and she was trying to hold something back.

_Please Faith, let us help._

"She's in Boston… she's at… a hospital…"

_Her sister's trapped in a hospital? How is that… oh._ Willow's brain made the connection.

"How is a hospital bad?" Buffy asked, not having made the connection the redhead had just made.

Faith didn't look at either of the other girls as she answered, "It's a mental hospital."

The only sound in the room was Buffy's whispered, "Oh."

Faith stayed silent a long moment before turning to meet Willow's and then Buffy's eyes, "I don't… I don't know exactly what's wrong but… B, you know Slayer dreams better than I do. I can't…"

"You were right about Dawn last night," the blonde replied softly. "And if your sister's in a…" she shuddered, "Go. She needs you."

Willow smiled slightly. Faith had managed to hit one of Buffy's few weak spots. Buffy knew what it was like to be in a psychiatric institute, and after the ordeal last year, there was no way she could say no to this.

The darker Slayer looked hesitant, like she was waiting for Buffy to take her words back and laugh 'got cha!'

_She looks scared,_ Willow realized, _as much as she won't admit it, she's waiting for Buffy's approval._

Willow mused again about the idea of Faith having a sister, still wondering how she hadn't know this detail about the Slayer's life.

_I mean, okay, I was kind of a member of the We Hate Faith Club for a few years, but even before things all went downhill, how did I not know she had a sister._

_Goddess, that must have been horrible – she said they took her sister away from her. I wonder what happened, how she ended up in an institution. Must have been something really bad, because Faith looks _really _upset. _

_But I'm still not too sure about Faith bringing her here. To the Hellmouth. While we're at war with The First. We can't really afford to look after another body, and we can't afford to lose Faith right now. Even for a few days – _

_- A few days! How long is she going to be gone? She has to go all the way back to Boston? Without any money. How exactly is she going to do that? And, oh, with The First and now Caleb running around? What if they send something after her? What if she's too busy helping her sister that she doesn't notice something attack her until it's too late? Oh, Goddess, what something happens to her? Maybe I should go with her. Maybe I should - _

"What was that, Wills?"

Willow blinked rapidly, staring at her blonde friend. "What was what?"

"You just said something."

"No… I…?" _Did I say that out loud?!_

"Red, you're not coming with me."

_Oh no, kill me now, I said that out loud._

"What!" Buffy yelped.

"Red, she just mumbled something about comin' with me."

_Please, Mother Goddess, let the ground crack open and swallow me whole. Right now. Really, I wouldn't mind._

"Willow, why would you even suggest that?"

_That's a very good question. Why don't we just pretend I didn't say anything, hmm?_

Faith's face was somewhere between being confused and being aggravated, "I don't need a babysitter, Red. I told you, I'm coming back. I'm not skipping out on you."

"I know you wouldn't do that," Willow said quietly, "I just mean that…" _What exactly did I mean? That I'm so attracted to her that if she leaves for a little while I need to go with her? That's she's so gorgeous that I can't bear not seeing her. That I feel so connected with her I can't stand the thought of not being near her._

_Yeah, let's not say that._

"… I mean that, that, maybe you'd just want someone there, to help?"

Buffy looked sceptical. Faith still looked confused.

"I mean, with Caleb and The First, and the demons last night, we don't know if something could go after you."

"I think I can take care of myself, Red."

"Willow has a point," Buffy stated, and Willow's eyes widened as she looked to her friend.

_I do? It's good that someone thinks so, because I certainly didn't think I had a point hidden anywhere in my mental-babble._

"Faith, you're worried about your sister. You'll be distracted; maybe having someone there wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe take one of the girls with you? Kennedy, maybe?"

"Hell no," the brunette replied instantly.

"Faith, they-"

"Are pipsqueaks that would only get me in bigger trouble if something happened. No."

"Faith, we can't afford for something to happen to you, not now."

"B, you don't even know if anything is _going_ to happen."

_They're doing it again,_ Willow thought to herself, _that thing where they ignore me. _ "Again, I'll bring up the idea of my going."

Faith looked apprehensive, like she felt Willow may have ulterior motives to offering to go.

"Really Faith, you might need a hand. I just want to help." _And that part is completely true. I do want to help her. I want her to trust me._

"Willow, you don't have to…"

"Will, we can't afford to have you _and_ Faith gone, even for a few days."

_Please Buffy, let me do this._

"I just want to make sure nothing happens to Faith. Plus," the redhead turned to look directly at the younger Slayer, "how exactly where you planning on getting there. Boston's a two-day drive from here."

"Bus, hitchhike. I can get by."

"Hey, Faith," Buffy laughed, "they have these things now, which get you from one place to the other really fast. They're called airplanes."

"Hey, Buffy," Faith replied, "they have this thing now, for escaped felons. It's called no-fly status."

"Which," Willow continued, "is why I can help. I could give you a small glamour, at least to get you on the plane."

"That's not too much magic for you?"

Willow shook her head diligently. A glamour was a simple charm she'd be able to handle. And after that magical battle with the Beast's Master in L.A.? Major confidence boost. She could do this.

"Let's go then."


	23. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Faith, take a deep breath, you need to calm down."

"I am calm," was the snarky reply.

"No, you're agitated."

"We're trapped in a metal box with wings," Faith deadpanned, "Of course I'm agitated."

The pair had boarded the plane only moments ago, Willow at the window seat and Faith next to her. They had been lucky to catch this flight; Sunnydale's tiny airport had been packed, everyone making their last attempt to leave town.

Faith wasn't sure how much luck they'd have coming back _into_ town. If everyone was leaving, it seemed unlikely there'd be a large number of flights scheduled to stop in at the Hellmouth town.

"Nervous flyer?"

"Try virgin flyer."

Faith watched Willow's eyes go wide, "You've never flown before?"

"Nah, cars and buses, and I've hopped a train here and there, but no planes." The Slayer shrugged, she'd been carted around Southie and the neighbouring area as a kid, both by her mother and by the foster families. And aside from her great trek to Sunnydale and then to L.A., she hadn't seen much else of the world. Buses were cheap; hoppin' trains was cheaper and faster. Planes were expensive, and like she'd told Buffy, once she'd charged for murder, flying hadn't been an option.

"You've hopped trains? As in, illegally riding them?" Willow asked in a hushed tone, probably not wanting to get the attention of the other passengers.

"Yeah, just find an empty car – preferably one with cargo, not livestock – avoid being seen when they check the cars, get comfy, and you're golden. So long as you get off before the train actually stops. Again, not wanting to get caught."

"You could break your leg doing that."

"Haven't yet, have I?" Faith grinned.

A voice up ahead caught Faith's attention. The flight attendants were going through what to do in case the big metal bird went down. Not exactly happy thoughts for people wearing such bright and cheerful uniforms.

She turned back to Willow, figuring if the ship did go down, she'd just fly by the seat of her pants. "So, how long till we land?"

"Faith, we haven't even taken off yet."

"Yeah, and how long till we land."

"Six hours. It's a six hour flight to Boston."

"Damn."

"And yes, you have to look like that the whole time."

"_Damn_," Faith swore again.

Willow had worked her magic so that Faith was the spitting image of Dawn. When the witch had said glamour, Faith had assumed Willow would just make her look like a random stranger. But the witch had pointed out that they would still need passports. So that meant Faith was either sporting a Buffy or a Dawn look.

She'd gone with Dawn; she'd already done the Buffy look. That hadn't gone well.

Faith's body tensed as the plane began moving. She could feel the low rumble of the engine vibrating through her, could hear the turbines beginning to spin.

She took a deep breath and held it in, beginning to count backwards from one-hundred.

The Slayer was doing fine as the plane made its way down the runway, but then it took off. To Faith, it seemed like one minute they were horizontal and the next they were launched almost vertical. She held the armrest in a death-grip, mentally cursing the idea of taking a plane. She preferred her feet flat on the ground.

It felt like hours later when a gentle hand rubbed her arm soothingly. "It's okay now," Willow's calm voice whispered, "the worst part's over."

Forcing herself to relax, Faith released the grip she had on her seat and opened the eyes she hadn't realized she'd closed. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Willow just smiled brightly at her, still rubbing gentle motions on Faith's forearm. "You don't have to be the big tough Slayer all the time. You're allowed to have a weakness."

"Not a weakness," Faith breathed, shaking her head, "just new."

After over a half hour of adjusting to the feeling of being that high up in the air, Faith's body began to get restless. She was a motion girl, sitting still for this long was killing her. Her leg was bouncing up and down with pent-up energy, and her head was moving back and forth, studying the other passengers.

"Hey, ADD girl," Willow laughed, looking away from the in-flight movie, "you need to relax."

"Bored. Need somethin' to do."

"Well, I don't think the other passengers would appreciate it if I told you to go run a lap around the plane."

"Sorry; just restless."

After a few moments, the redhead stated, "You're thinking about her, aren't you?"

Faith didn't need clarification on who Willow meant. "Yeah," she sighed heavily.

"Worried?"

"Just not really sure what to expect. I thought she was safe there. They told me she'd be safe there. This… this changes things."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

The brunette looked away, uncomfortable with the topic.

_I can't tell her that. It'll just bring up bad memories._

But when she looked back at Willow, who was only looking at her with compassion, Faith felt her resolve breaking.

_That girl knows how to get what she wants_.

"You, ah, remember the… the thing with Gwendolyn Post?" Willow nodded. "Right after that, I needed to get away."

"You were gone until Christmas. I remember that."

"Yeah, I took off for a bit. Went and saw Dani. That was the last time I saw her. What with the coma. And prison."

"I'm sorry."

The Slayer shook her head, "Not your fault. I just… after the thing with the glove, I needed some time on my own, away from you and the Scoobies."

"No," Willow interrupted, "I mean, I'm sorry that was the last time you saw her. That it's been so long. How long has she… sorry, you probably don't want to talk about that."

_She deserves to know at least part of what she's getting into,_ the brunette thought to herself. _And if I'm going to talk to anyone about it, I'd rather it be her._

_Still not sure why that is._

"'S okay. She, uh, she's been there for seven years; since she was fourteen."

"Oh, my…" was all Willow managed to get out.

Faith looked away from the redhead's pitying look, focusing instead on a man with the newspaper a few seats ahead of her. He was balding; his shiny pink skin visible under his haphazardly placed toupee.

"Faith," when the witch finally found her voice, Faith turned back to her, "Faith, I'm so sorry. That must have been horrible for her. For you."

"Yeah," Faith breathed out. "She didn't… she didn't really understand what was going on, why they were taking her away. She kept asking if it was something she was doing wrong."

"W-why," Willow's voice was hesitant, "Why did they…?"

The Slayer ran a shaking hand through her hair and kept her voice low, "Schizoaffective Disorder, as characterized by reoccurring episodes of mood disorder – mixed or manic episodes – and psychosis, which are moments of delusion and hallucination. The most likely cause being Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and an Intellectual Disability due to an acquired brain injury early-on in childhood development."

Faith watched the redhead's face as she spoke, watched the girl trying to take everything in as Faith recited the doctors words for what was wrong with her sister.

Again, she'd rendered the babble-queen speechless.

_I probably could have worded that a little gentler. _

"You sound like my parents," Willow finally commented. On Faith's confused look, the girl continued, "They're psychologists. Big words and nerdy talk, I'm used to it." She paused a moment, contemplating, "That's what the textbooks say, what do you say?"

Faith ran a shaking hand through her hair, "At the time, I had no idea what was wrong. I thought… I thought she was losing it. She… uh, she… fell, when we were younger, hit her head. That kind of… changed her. She was still Dani, but… not, not quite the same. She didn't understand things after that. They wanted to put her in a special class in school. She just… was different. And then after my mother… I figured it was too much for her, being in the system. At least at home, our mom left her alone. Our foster parents… they didn't get that Dani was special."

"How old were you, when you went into foster care?"

"Twelve. At first… at first I thought she was just adjusting. But it got worse. And I… I thought she was making it up."

Faith stopped speaking, remembering what it was like those first few months in the system. She remembered trying to keep Dani quiet, from having fits. She had no idea what was wrong with her sister, but she had known if her foster parents found out they would have taken Dani away.

Willow's hand on her shoulder brought Faith out of her memories. "What… what happened?"

"She started seeing things. Hallucinations. She started talking with things that weren't there. She'd have these fits, she'd freak out but no one could see what was scaring her. I tried to keep her quiet as long as I could… but they found out. And then when they… took her away, I let them. I didn't fight back as much as I should have. I didn't understand. I thought… I thought she was making it up."

Faith saw the question in Willow's eyes, "…You thought? Y-you don't anymore?"

"Diana, my Watcher, she thought Dani was sick, just like everyone else. But she let me go see her. I had to sneak out when I was in the foster families. But Diana… she actually took me to see Dan. And then, when she met her… she told me Dani wasn't making it up. The things she could see were real."

"W-what do you mean?"

The brunette ran her hands over her legs, drying them. They felt clammy. She hadn't spoken about this with anyone since her Watcher died. "She sees things. Hellmouth-y things. Before they happen."

"Your sister's a _Seer_?" The witch breathed out, clearly caught off-guard.

"That… that's the word Diana used for it, yeah."

"You're a Slayer, she's a Seer. That's one special family you've got there." Faith watched Willow's face fall almost the instant the words left her mouth. "Oh, wait, I didn't mean it like that. I-"

"It's okay, Red. I know what you meant."

They slipped into a semi-comfortable silence; Willow looking out the window, clearly taking in Faith's revelation about her sister, and Faith watching the bald guy's toupee slip further and further to one side of his head. She wondered if it would have to fall off before he noticed it.

After a few long minutes of watching the bald man, Faith looked around their seats, trying to find something to flick into the man's fake hair. Maybe she could toss a pen cap and knock it right off his head.

_I do have pretty good aim._

Unfortunately, there was nothing in her immediate vicinity to use as ammo. The brunette let out a heavy sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"How do you plan to pass the time while we ride this God-forsaken hunk of metal? 'Cause I'm bored as hell."

The redhead seemed to ponder this. "Well," she said finally, "You have yet to tell anyone any specific details about this Slayer dream you had."

"We're not even in Sunnydale anymore and you're still looking for research to do."

"Once a nerd, always a nerd."

"Nah, you're too cute to be a nerd."

_And that slipped out of my mouth how?_

Faith noticed the red tinge forming on Willow's cheeks and decided to spare her any further embarrassment. "Anyway, the dream. Whatcha want to know?"

"When did you have it?" Willow asked, slipping into Scooby mode easily.

"One week before Wes came and I skipped out of good ol' California Women's."

"Specifically when?"

Faith raised her eyebrows, "I don't know, Red. A few days. It was a dream, I have those you know. Didn't think much of it."

_Didn't remember much of it is more likely._

"But you knew it was a Slayer dream?" The redhead pushed.

"No, I'm thinking _now_ that it was a Slayer dream. Then I just thought someone slipped something in my dinner, because it was messed up."

"Have you ever had a Slayer dream before? Buffy's had them a few times, but you never mentioned them before."

Faith thought about how to answer this for a moment. Yes, she'd had Slayer dreams before. But she'd never spoken of them to anyone before. Buffy and co. seemed to think they were prophetic, but Faith had always assumed they were mindless nonsense.

"Yeah, I've had them before," she finally answered. "Had the whole 'dreaming of dead girls' thing right before and after I was Called. Shared one with B, right before…"

"Graduation. She told us. You told her how to… how to stop-"

"Yeah," The Slayer interrupted, not wanting to bring up painful memories. "I've had two since then, nothing that big."

Willow gave her a look. A look that said she had better elaborate.

"Uh… about a year into my sentence, I had one. I… don't remember a whole lot. B was there, she was in pain. Some big flashy light. I had the dream the night before Buffy died. If I'd been a little more conscious I'd have known the dream was about her dying, not just some big light show."

This seemed to render her companion silent for a few moments, pushing her deep in thought. "That… I guess that makes sense. If the Slayer dreams the pervious girl's deaths, you seeing Buffy die isn't that farfetched. And the other one?"

"I knew B was alive again before Angel came and told me."

"I guess… I guess that makes sense too. The Slayer line runs through you. If something happened to Buffy it would make sense that you'd know. Okay, the dream about your sister. What do you remember?"

"Not a whole lot," Faith replied. She thought hard for a moment, trying to bring the memory of the dream forward. "I was talking with Dani, she said she was in danger, I needed to get her out."

"How were you talking to her?"

"In a mirror."

"In a… okay. That probably means something."

Faith recounted what she could for the witch. She mentioned the tree on fire, Buffy and the apple, and the old woman with the axe. She left out that the old woman had transformed into her mother, not really wanting to go there. When she'd finished she sat silently, waiting for Willow to respond.

"Well…" the redhead finally offered, "Buffy and Giles are probably going to want to hear about this. Giles especially. You'll have to be as specific as possible for him. We may even have to do some research into it. I don't really know what the axe is supposed to represent. But if the Buffy-apples-demon thing happened, then I bet most of the other things in the dream are predicting something too."

The redhead continued to mumble to herself about hidden meanings and messages. Faith slowly tuned her out, her mind focusing less on the unknown parts of her dream and more about the parts she did understand. Dani. It kept coming back to Dani. Her sister needed her.

Faith still wasn't sure why she needed to be there, but she had an overwhelming feeling that she had to get to Dani. She had always been attentive and protective of her sister, even before their mother died and they were essentially on their own, even before Dani had had her accident. But the urge to protect her sister was suddenly stronger than she'd ever felt it. Maybe it was a Slayer thing, maybe it was a twin thing, maybe it was something else entirely.

All Faith knew was she had to get to Dani. Had to get her safe and away from the hospital.


	24. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Stepping out of the taxi, Willow felt her hair being tossed about around her face. It was extremely windy. The deep green trees lining the path up to the building were shaking with the force of it.

Stone Manor; it suited its name. The building was old, like something out of a pre-war novel. The faded, grey brick had dark green vines snaking up the sides, wrapping around the windows and eves-troughs.

She followed her silent companion up the tree-lined walkway and inside the front door. Faith hadn't spoken since they'd gotten in the taxi, aside from giving the driver directions. The witch could see how tense and nervous Faith was. Her usually fidgety body had sat perfectly still the whole car ride.

The lobby too was like that out of a mansion. Dark wood panelled walls with landscape pictures in frames, a few plush chairs and a table with some magazines. An old grandfather clock stood in the corner; it's ticking echoing in the room.

Willow stayed back while Faith moved towards the receptionist's desk; a high, dark wood bench-style table with a computer, lamp, and stack of papers scattered about it. A china cup sat near the corner, an assortment of pens and pencils sticking out. It seemed too modern and out of place to Willow.

The woman, a young, thin-haired blonde, looked up from what she was typing as Faith approached. "Hello, welcome to…"

Faith smirked, casually leaning back on her heels.

"How did you… I… Wait, you're not…" the woman gaped.

Willow grew a little nervous, unsure of what was going on.

"Who isn't what Cindy?" A second woman questioned as she came around the corner and into the room. "Faith Lehane?" she asked when she spotted the brunette, "Lord child, haven't seen your face around here in years." Willow watched, shocked, as the woman approached the Slayer and pulled her into a loving hug, and watched as Faith allowed it without protest.

_What is going on?_

"Heya, Rose," Faith said as the woman let her go.

Rose, a plump, dark-skinned woman in an orderly's uniform smiled tenderly at Faith, "Good to see you child, you've been missed 'round here." She turned to the receptionist, "Cindy, this is Faith, Daniela's sister."

The woman behind the desk nodded, "I can see the resemblance."

"Faith, looks like you near gave our desk-girl a heart attack," the older woman turned to Willow, her smile not having left her face, "And who's this?"

"Rose, this is Willow," Faith hesitated a moment, "a… a friend of mine. Willow, this is Rose; woman's been here as long as I can remember."

Willow nearly missed the introduction, she was so busy focusing on how Faith introduced her.

_Not an acquaintance, not a co-worker. A friend. _

_My heart should not be fluttering like that._

"It's nice to meet you, Willow," Rose said, shaking the redhead's hand.

"How's she doing?" Faith asked.

The witch watched the other woman close her eyes and sigh before replying, "Not so well as we'd like, the poor girl. She was doing better for a good stretch, but these last few months? The child's unwin'ing all the progress we've made with her."

"How bad?"

"Nothin' we can't-"

"How bad?" Faith asked again.

"Same as always, seeing an' hearing things. But her fits are lasting longer and hap'ning closer together. Tried her on some new medications, Dr. Lewis has, but-"

"What happened to Dr. Rawle?"

"Faith, he was close to sixty when Daniela first came here. Took him needin' a hip replacement to retire. But our new guy, Dr. Lewis, he's a good man. Trying new medications with the patients, your sister just won't take to 'em. Cindy," Rose said, looking at the receptionist, "why don't you run an' find the doctor, I'm sure Faith would like to meet him."

The petite blonde bobbed her head and slipped out of the room.

"What brings you here Faith, right now? Daniela's having fits worse than devil-possession and you suddenly show up, after years of hearing nothin' from you?"

"Rose, I was... I was in a coma. There was...an accident. I couldn't come visit her because I was in a coma."

"Goodness, you're alright though?"

"Getting better," Faith smiled.

Willow was impressed. Faith, although lying to Rose, was staying as close to the truth as possible. Willow could see Faith clearly cared for and respected the woman.

"She's missed you. Still talks about you, but she grew a lot quieter when you stopped commin' round."

"When was her last fit?"

"Two nights ago; spent the night in Solitary. She bit one of the orderlies."

The witch couldn't help it, "She… bit someone?"

Rose looked sadly at the redhead, "She's not in her right mind when she's like that. Not her fault, it's the psychosis. She's calmed down today though, you should be able to see her."

Faith shook her head gently, "Not here to see her Rose, here to-"

"Now what's this I hear," A loud voice asked. Willow turned to see a man in a doctor's coat entering the reception area. He was tall, with greying hair but sharp eyes. "Visitors when it isn't Family Day?"

"Dr. Lewis, this is Faith, Daniela Lehane's sister. Faith, this is our new doctor, Dr. Lewis."

"Well, Miss Lehane, seeing as how it's been some time since you've come around, you may not be familiar with our new policies. But family visits are strictly for Family Days only. I don't like my patients to be breaking from routine, they need structure and order to progress and benefit from their time here," the man finished coldly, staring at Faith.

"Not here for a social call, Doc. Here to take Dani… home." Willow saw Faith's slight flinch at the word 'home.'

_But she can't really say she's here to take Daniela back to some Demon-ridden town to stay at a friend's house, can she? Home is probably the best way to put it._

"Pardon me?"

"You heard me. I'm her guardian. She's leaving."

"I must say, this is rather sudden, seeing as how it has been years since you've visited your sister."

"Been unreachable. Coma. As in, not expected to wake up from."

Willow was beginning to feel the surrounding walls press in on her. A confrontation was definitely about to happen. She'd seen Faith earlier; there was no way she was going back to Sunnydale without her sister. Hopefully this would be resolved before Faith grew agitated enough to start throwing punches.

The doctor looked thrown by her comment for only a moment, "Miss Lehane, as a medical professional I am recommending that you do not remove Daniela from this facility. As a patient here, she is under strict care and constant supervision, as well as receives continual medical analysis and treatment in order to help her cope with her condition. Removing her could be detrimental to her recovery."

"I'm not asking you if you think it's a good idea if she leaves," Faith said, standing straighter and looking the man in the eyes. "I'm asking you to go and get her and any of her things so I can take her home."

"Miss Lehane, your sister was issued to us as a ward of the state, you do not have-"

"The minute I turned eighteen I became her legal guardian," the Slayer interrupted, taking a threatening step forward. "You people brought her here without my consent or hers. Now I'm consenting. She's leaving."

"Miss Lehane," the doctor insisted – Willow was quickly growing annoyed with the man's degrading tone of voice – "I do not think it wise for you remove her from this institute. Under your care she will not receive the same round the clock supervision and medical attention my staff can provide. She is receiving medication to help deal with her episodes of delusion and medical instability-"

Faith's voice was low and aggressive, "Dani's leaving. Today."

Willow reached out, placing a hand on the aggravated Slayer's arm. She rubbed it slightly, hoping to calm her down before the doctor ended up with a bloodied nose or black eye.

"Roger," Rose said in a hushed voice, speaking up for the first time. "Faith has legal control over her sister…" The two seemed to have a silent conversation with their eyes, until the doctor finally nodded stiffly. It seemed as if, even though he was the head doctor, Rose was the patron here and had some influence in what went on.

"If you'll come with me," Dr. Lewis said, his voice like ice, "_Miss_ Lehane, we'll get the paperwork settled. Rose? Go and get Miss Lehane's sister prepared to leave our care." The ebony-skinned woman nodded, smiled sympathetically at Faith, and turned to walk down the corridor. The doctor began striding down the hall in the opposite direction, his white coat billowing after him.

"You okay?" Willow asked, her voice timid.

Faith let out a ragged sigh, "Yeah. Just… whatever. Wait here while I go sort this out, yeah?"

Willow smiled, "Go. The sooner you go sort it out with Rat-Face there, the sooner we can get her out of here."

"He does look kinda Snyder-like, doesn't he?"

The witch beamed at the small smile she'd made appear on the brunette's face as she watched Faith turn to follow after the doctor.

Willow looked around the now empty room. Apparently Cindy the receptionist had snuck out sometime during the confrontation, leaving her alone in the big room. Sighing to herself, she perched on one of the chairs and glanced at the magazines on the table. They were all medical or golf related.

_Ick._

She felt bad for Faith. The doctor was being a major ass. Sure, it made sense he'd think Daniela would be better cared for here – especially if he knew just where Faith was taking her sister – but he had been incredibly rude to the brunette. Plus, Faith had been uptight as it was; the doctor being a pain hadn't helped matters. Willow was surprised Faith had held it together as long as she had. If he had been acting that way to her, Willow wouldn't have hesitated to kick him.

_Or magic his hair into grape jelly._

She tried not to fidget as she sat in the lobby, thinking up other nasty punishments she could use on the doctor. It was unlikely she would put any of them into practice, but it was still an amusing way to pass the time.

Rose entered the room again sometime later, pulling Willow from her musings.

"I thought you went to go get Daniela?" Willow asked as she stood up.

"One of the other nurses is getting her ready. The child refused to move until she saw her sister, almost started having another one of her fits again, didn't believe us. Faith went in, calmed her down such. I haven't seen that child's face light up like that in a long time," Rose smiled affectionately. "One of the nurses is with Daniela now, getting her things ready, and Faith is with the doctor, finishin' things up." Then she leaned closer to the witch and lowered her voice, "And you didn't hear it from me, but our Faith teared-up a bit."

"Faith really cares for her," Willow stated, remembering just how worked up Faith had gotten back in Sunnydale.

"Used to come 'round here all the time when they first brought Daniela in," Rose mused. "Makin' sure her sister was safe. I think it was hard for her, seein' Daniela in a place like this; they were both so young."

Rose's eyes grew sad, "She stopped coming round though. Her visits grew further apart. I think Faith may've gotten herself into some trouble. She was a tough girl, but didn't have a real stable family."

"I-I heard," Willow stammered, "S-she was in foster care."

"Mmm," the dark-skinned woman nodded, "Them families didn't always like Faith comin' by to see her 'troubled sister.' But Faith was always insistin', minute she turned eighteen, she was taking Daniela away. Didn't like having her here. She reminded us every time she was here. Eighteen was the magic number. "

"She had to wait until she was Daniela's legal guardian?"

"Yes, before that they were both wards of the state. But, well, the date came and passed, and Faith didn't come 'round anymore."

Willow smiled sadly, "She was in the coma."

"What happened to her?"

The redhead thought for a moment, considering how to word her answer. Eventually she settled with, "She had a bad fall. She lost a lot of blood, t-there was head trauma."

Rose smoothed out her orderlies' uniform, "Girl has heart though. Even God's will of a coma couldn't keep her from seeing her sister."

Willow looked down the hallway, waiting for the Slayer to return. After a moment she asked the other woman, "Would, um, would it be alright if I used your phone? I should probably call us another taxi."

"Of course child. Don't have a car of your own, though?"

"Not here. We took a taxi here. And we didn't know how long we'd be. So it was better not to have it wait outside, because we'd have to pay for that. We're staying at a motel for the night. Then flying back home tomorrow. Where the car is. Back home."

"And where is home?" Rose asked, leading her behind the desk.

The redhead answered carefully, "California." She assumed that, if she mentioned Sunnydale the woman may have heard about the evacuation. And L.A., Willow knew, had been in the news because of the whole lights-out no-sun thing. Better to keep it vague.

As she was putting the phone back down after making arrangements for the taxi she heard footsteps approaching. Willow looked up. An orderly and Faith were walking back down the hall; the unknown woman carrying a small duffle bag and Faith walking next to her, speaking quietly so only the nurse could hear.

Willow took a step forward, about to ask Faith if everything was settled, when she noticed something was off. The redhead stood motionlessly for a long moment, watching as the pair approached.

_That… that's not… what's going on?_

Rose asked, "All ready to go then?"

Willow didn't respond. She was too busy taking-in the girl now standing before her.

_She… but she… she looks just like… how…?_

"We all set?" Faith's voice asked from behind her.

The redhead whipped around, confused. Faith and the doctor were walking towards them from the other end of the hallway.

She looked back at the Faith standing beside her, eyes widening.

"Oh," she squeaked, realization dawning on her.

"Faithie!" Daniela called, running forward to meet her sister. Faith caught her as the look-alike threw her arms around the Slayer.

"Kiddo, you just saw me. I just went to sign some paperwork," Faith laughed, her whole face lighting up.

Seeing them standing side by side, Willow almost passed out. It was too much for her brain to handle.

_Twins! They're twins! She didn't mention they were twins! Goddess, Faith, you almost gave me a heart attack!_

Daniela wrapped her arms around her sister tightly, burrowing into her side like a small child. The doctor was standing behind Faith trying to warn her again that he didn't support what was happening, but she ignored him and walked the two of them over to where Rose and Willow were standing.

"It's okay, Dani," Willow heard her whisper. "It's all gonna be okay now." Louder she said, "Rose… Rose, I… thanks. For everything. For keeping her safe."

The woman gently put her arm around Faith's free side, "Of course, honey." As she pulled back, Willow saw her press something into the brunette's hand, "You call us, if anything happens, you hear?"

Faith nodded. "Did you say goodbye, Dan?"

The other girl nodded and waved, but didn't let go of Faith's side. She was holding on like Faith was a lifeboat. Her face was pale in the bright light, and Willow could see her eyes were dulled, probably from the medications. But she was smiling.

Faith turned to the witch and Willow had to agree with Rose's earlier comment, Faith's eyes were red from trying to hold back tears. "Ready?"

Willow nodded, taking the bag of Daniela's belongings from the orderly who had walked the girl into the room. "The taxi will be here soon."

After another round of goodbyes the trio made it outside. Only a few steps out the door and Willow felt a chill run over her as the wind picked up. They walked down the tree-lined walkway and Faith convinced Daniela to sit down on the curb while they waited for the taxi.

Faith knelt down on the ground in front of her sister, "I missed you," she whispered.

"You went away." Willow had to strain to hear.

"I told you inside, Dani, I was sick. That's why I couldn't come see you. That's why you couldn't see me."

Daniela stayed quiet, looking out into the parking lot.

Faith stood up and stretched. "You okay?" She asked the redhead as she walked closer to where Willow stood.

Willow smiled. "Yes. But, well, you could have given me a heads up."

"'Bout what?"

"Faith, she's your twin."

Faith turned and looked back at Daniela, then looked back at Willow. "Oh, right."

Willow frowned, "'Oh, right?' That's all you have to say?"

"Sorry, I just… I forget. That we're twins. We look so different."

_Look so different? Look so different? If they looked any similar, I'd think Faith was standing in front of a mirror!_

But, watching Daniela stand up and turn to look at them, Willow could in fact see the differences.

The biggest difference was size. Faith was toned and muscular from Slaying. Daniela had a small, petit frame. Her face and arms were much smaller and thinner than Faith's, making Willow wonder how well they were feeding her at Stone Manor.

Daniela was also much paler than Faith was. They both had the same olive skin-tone, but Daniela appeared lighter, probably spending less time outside than her sister.

Their eyes were different too, Willow noticed. Faith's eyes were harder, more closed-off. Daniela's were wide and bright, looking at the redhead with a curious expression. A small smile pulled at her lips, whereas Faith was usually found with her trademark smirk.

_She has a birthmark too,_ Willow thought, looking at the small freckle only present on Daniela's neck. _And she probably doesn't have Faith's tattoo._

"Dani," Faith was saying, "This is Willow. She's a friend of mine."

The girl was staring at Willow, her eyes wide. Willow smiled gently at her, "Hi, Daniela."

But Faith's twin did not return the greeting. She simply stood staring at Willow, her smile slowly shrinking.

"Dan?" Faith asked.

"Why?" Daniela asked. "Why… she…"

"Dani, what's wrong?" When Daniela shook her head in response Faith insisted, "Dani, use your words. What's wrong?"

"She… it's so dark. Why… make the day come back." Willow was about to assume the girls words were only mindless babble until she heard Daniela say, "The light went out and she lost her way. Faithie, make the dark stop."

The girl's small frame shook as she tried to move away, but Faith held onto her sister's arms. "Dani, you need to calm down."

"No!" She tugged harder, trying to break free of Faith's hold on her. "It's all so black. And red. Bleeding. Make her stop make her stop make her stop!"

Willow took a gracious step back, unsure exactly of how, but knowing she was the cause of Daniela's outburst.

Faith was talking to her, trying to get her sister to calm down, but the smaller girl wasn't having any of it. "It's bad. It hurts. She hurts. I can hear. I can hear it. They're afraid of her. Make her eyes go back!" Daniela was frantic now.

"Dani, I don't understand. What are you seeing?"

"She sees me," Willow said quietly. "She's seeing inside me."

"Faithie, it isn't right. It's so dark. How can she be light inside? I can see the dark. How can there be stars too?"

Faith let go of her sister. Daniela pulled away from here but didn't move to run away. She was looking at Willow with a fearful expression. "Don't understand," she whimpered.

"It's okay, Dani," Faith soothed. She took a step forward and placed a gentle hand on her sister's arm, rubbing it in attempt to comfort the scared girl. "You're seeing Willow, aren't you?"

Daniela nodded. "How… she looks… darkness… different…"

"Willow was sick for a little while. She was really sad," Faith didn't take her eyes off her sister, "And she was upset. Bad things happened. You… you can see what she did, can't you?" Her sister confirmed by nodding her head, lip trembling, "She's okay now. Willow was sick, but she's good now. She won't hurt you."

"The monsters…"

"Yeah, Willow stops the monsters. She's like me. She's special. She just got lost for a little while."

"The light went out and she lost her way," the girl repeated.

Willow was in awe. This girl, Faith's identical twin, had taken one look at her and had seen all the bad things she'd done. Daniela had summed up her past year in one perfect statement.

_She's scared of me. That's why she freaked. She can see what I did and it scared her. She can see all the power I have._

"She helps now? No more night?"

Faith smiled, still rubbing her sister's arm in a soothing motion, "No more night, no more darkness. Willow's good, she helps kill the bad things. The things you see. She helps stop them. She's good."

Faith's words were simple, but evidently were the right words to say, because her sister was visible relaxing. "She can make flowers."

"What?"

"W-Would… Would you like me to make you a flower?" Willow asked hesitantly.

Daniela moved out of Faith's touch and stood apprehensively in front of the redhead. She still appeared fearful, but curiosity was taking over. "I can see the lights inside. They smile. There's night too, but the stars are brighter."

_I'm going to take that to mean she doesn't think I'm evil._

The witch held her hand out in front of her, concentrated, and a small butterfly appeared. Not quite what she'd been going for; she'd been aiming for a flower. But the butterfly seemed to do the deed. As it took off from her hand, Daniela smiled broadly, watching as it flittered around her head.

"Pretty."

Daniela turned, watching as it flew higher and across the road.

Faith stood next to Willow. "Well that was quite a greeting."

Willow smiled, very much aware of how close Faith was standing next to her, "You knew… exactly what she was seeing. You knew how to calm her down; what to say."

Faith shrugged, "I just understand. She can see things, not just visions. Just… deeper things. About people. She was confused. She could see what you'd done, but could see you weren't like that anymore."

"She's lucky to have you."

"Let's hope it stays that way. Let's hope taking her from here is the right thing to do."

Willow wanted to offer more comfort to the Slayer, but she was too busy trying to hide her smile.

_She called me special. When she was calming Daniela down, she called me special. She thinks I'm special. _Willow giggled internally, amused with the idea. _She thinks I'm special._

_Oh Goddess help me, I'm hopeless._


	25. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

They had picked up Dani from Stone Manor sometime after seven that evening; the boarding time in the airport, plane ride and the time difference stealing away most of the day. The taxi ride brought them to the motel they were staying at for the night. Their plane ride back to Sunnydale wasn't until morning.

Dani's bag of belongings had been dumped on the floor next to the small ones Willow and Faith had packed, which essentially contained a change of clothes and basic toiletries. They weren't planning on staying long.

The trio had then walked across the street to a fast food place for something to eat. Dani, although a fully grown woman like her sister, still had the essence of a weary child. A shy smile on her face, she had stayed close to Faith's side and hadn't spoken much.

It stung for Faith to watch. It was the first time in seven years that her sister was outside an institution.

_And I chose to bring her out for burgers. Smooth Lehane, real considerate of you._

After they'd eaten, Willow had suggested a quick shopping trip, since most of the clothes Dani had with her were generic grey-toned clothes issued by the institution. Faith had wanted to deny it, not liking the idea of Willow paying for _more_ things while she stood there stupidly without any money, but it was no use. Dani did need clothes.

It was when they had walked into the store that Faith had realized she was totally out of her element. Completely comfortable shopping for her own clothes, she had no idea what Dani would want to wear.

And again, Willow had come through for her. After the initial scare in the parking lot, Dani had completely warmed up to the redhead. Faith wasn't sure if it was because Dani could see that Faith trusted her, or if it was because the witch was just good company. She was patient with the younger girl where many people just shrugged Dani off as being too slow to keep conversation with. Willow had helped Dani pick out some jeans, shirts, and dresses.

_We are so not related. No way are you catchin' me walking around in a sundress._

When they returned back to the motel it was dark outside. The room was small; two double beds, a table, chair and a TV being the only furniture. Not that they really needed anything else, they would be flying back to Sunnydale in the morning.

Faith was reclining back on one of the beds, mindlessly flipping through channels on the small, fuzzy TV. Willow had stepped outside to take a call on her cell, making arrangements with the Scoobies for someone to pick them up from the airport. And Dani was sitting at the table, a sketchbook open and pencil flying across the page.

The half-filled book, along with four finished ones, were the only personal items Dani had brought from the psychiatric hospital, along with the old clothes, which had now been replaced by the new ones they'd just bought.

The Slayer remembered when Dani had first been admitted to Stone Manor. They had had an art room there, a therapeutic way to help their patients cope with their illnesses. But when it was clear Dani wanted more sketching time than the allotted two hours a week Faith had been allowed to bring her sister sketchbooks and crayons. Crayons, because no pens or pencils were allowed. No sharp things allowed in Stone Manor.

Dani had had an artist's touch when she was younger, and it had grown and developed the longer she was at the hospital. Books and books full of pictures. Sketches of the scenery outside her window, portraits of the staff, scenes from the movies they watched once a week, and whatever other mindless doodles she came up with.

As well as some rather graphic pictures of the things Dani heard and saw inside her head.

When the door opened Faith looked up. Willow entered; a cup of coffee in each hand. "Here," she offered one of the drinks forward, "one cream; no sugar."

"Uh, thanks," Faith replied, confused about the appearance of the coffee. She thought the redhead had been just outside on her phone. "How'd you know?"

"I guessed, actually. I figured you weren't a sugar user; you've already got enough energy. So it was a debate between black and cream," Willow replied as she sat down next to the Slayer on the bed.

"Good guess. You?"

"Hmm?" Willow asked as she sipped her drink.

"What do you have in yours?"

The redhead looked sheepish, "Two sugars."

Faith raised an eyebrow, "I see now why B and the X-man refused to let you have coffee before tests back when you were in high school."

"Heh, yeah, I'd get a little wired sometimes."

"I'll bet. So," she prompted, raising the paper cup to her lips, "What's the sitch? Someone gonna be there to get us when we land?"

"Yes," the redhead answered. "Giles said Xander will be there. Oh, we're landing in L.A. though. No more flights coming into Sunnydale."

"Great."

The younger Lehane's head suddenly shot up and she looked pointedly at Willow, as if only now noticing the girl's presence in the room. "Is the moon pretty tonight?"

If the witch was thrown by the girl's random question she didn't act it, "Yup. It's just a little sliver in the sky."

"Like the cat's smile."

"What?" Faith asked.

Dani frowned at her, "The cat. From…from…"

"Wonderland," Willow filled in, "You mean the Cheshire cat, don't you?"

The girl nodded. "Come and see." She instructed.

Willow smirked at Faith before getting off the bed and going to stand near Dani at the table. "Oh," Willow said, startled. "Wow, Daniela that's really… wow."

"Faithie calls me Dani. The doctors don't. But Faithie does."

Faith could easily see Willow holding back the laugh at the name _Faithie_. "Does she? Do you want me to call you that too?"

Her sister nodded. Then she held up the sketchbook for Faith to see.

_Damn. I don't know how she does that… but damn._

The sketch was of Willow's face. Even though it was in black and white, it captured the redhead perfectly. The softness of her hair, the sparkle in her eyes, the slow curve of her nose, all of it; it was purely Willow. In the image she had a soft smile on her face, her hair fanning her features as if blown by a wind. The amount of detail Dani had been able to put into it in such a short amount of time was incredible.

Faith knew her sister loved to draw, but she had forgotten how fast she could generate an image.

"Dani," Willow asked, "How… I wasn't even here when you drew this."

Faith laughed, "She does that. She can just… see whatever it is and then draw it."

"Photographic memory," Willow said absentmindedly

"Is it not good?" Dani asked, a pout forming.

"Oh, Goddess no. Dani, you did a great job."

"You like it?"

Willow smiled easily at her, "Yes. I like."

Dani nodded, satisfied with the statement and then turned the page, preparing to start another drawing.

"Why don't you save your next picture for tomorrow?" Faith asked her sister. "We have to head out early tomorrow morning. It's been a busy evening, why don't you hit the hay."

"Not a pony," Dani chirped back as she hopped off the chair and slipped into the small bathroom to get ready for bed.

"Not a… oh, I get it. Hay. Pony," Willow giggled.

"Yeah, she does that."

"I noticed. Not all her sentences…" she left her words hanging.

"Make sense?" Faith offered from her place on the bed.

"No," the witch shook her head, looking thoughtful. "It's not that. It's more… she says them in a different way. Like how she said she wanted the _sunny_ dress, not the _yellow_ one. Kinda throws me every little while."

"You get used to it."

Willow rolled her eyes, "Says the girl who's known her her whole life."

"She's actually really good with you."

"What do you mean?"

Faith thought for a moment, considering how to answer. "Dani's… she's shy. She's friendly and happy and always smiles, but she's shy. It takes her a long time to warm up to people. When she does she's totally carefree, but it takes her a while to get to that place." After a beat the brunette added, "I've never seen her take to someone so fast."

"Maybe because she's used to people treating her differently. She's been institutionalized, for the unnecessary reason of being a Seer no less, but I bet most people don't treat her like a person. The doctors and nurses there are used to handling their patients like they're _special_. I just see her as your freakishly identical-looking twin." Idly the redhead picked up the sketchbook and began flipping through it. Faith watched her expression soften as she looked through the sketches. "These are really good. She has talent for – oh. Is that… she drew a Flacără demon?" The witch held the book up for Faith to see.

"She draws whatever's in her head," Faith said out loud while thinking, _Here comes the Willow-__babble__._

"She's got the detailing down amazingly. The scales. And the little ridges. Most images of them I've seen don't get the ridges right, they're rougher in real life. The shading is so well done. I could never draw like that. Even if I traced something it wouldn't end up looking as good as this." She looked back at the book, turning a few more pages. "But I can see how this would look to a doctor."

Faith sighed, long and heavy, because she knew how the doctors saw it too. Mentally unstable girl, allowed to use a sketchbook as an outlet for therapy, begins drawing deranged-looking creatures?

_She'd be in there the rest of her life. If I didn't get her out, she'd be stuck there the rest of her life._

_So why do I feel like I'm not doing the right thing?_

* * *

Sometime later Faith felt a strong kick in the leg. She rolled over; hardly waking as sleep pulled her under again, excusing the jolt of pain as Dani being restless in her sleep. Faith was a deep sleeper, and an extremely difficult person to wake up if she was determined on sleeping. And at the moment, she most definitely wanted to sleep as long as possible. They were flying back to L.A. in the morning, back to the madness in Sunnydale. With The First, Caleb, the Bringers, their fearless and stubborn leader Buffy, and all the Potentials taking up every inch of the house…

She was dragged to consciousness again when she felt a sharp pain in her back.

"Ow, Christ," she mumbled, not quite awake but determined to stay asleep. She felt the blankets around her begin to rustle and be tugged over her. She pulled back and received another kick to the legs.

Fully annoyed, the Slayer's eyes opened. It was dark in the room, the only light coming from the motel's flashing vacancy sign shining through the window.

_Fuck, what time is it?_

It was then, as she admitted to waking up, that her senses started picking up what was going on around her.

Voices.

Willow, talking. Her voice sounded nervous. Why was Willow talking? Who was she talking with?

Then, her sleepy mind registered another voice. Dani's.

Dani's voice was high-pitched; crying and growing to hysterics.

Faith sat up immediately and squinted in the darkness to try to see what was going on. Dani was sitting up in bed next to her, leaning against the headboard with her knees against her chest. She was pulling at her hair, crying. Willow was sitting on the side of their bed, near where Dani's feet would have been, trying to calm the panicked girl down.

"…me what's going on, just let me help-"

"No! No, no, no, no, no. It hurts! Make them go. I don't want to play now. I don't want to play I don't want to play I don't want to play!"

Something deep inside of Faith, an instinct she hadn't felt in a long time, surfaced. It wasn't just the simple need to protect her sister she'd felt when she'd woken from the Slayer dream days ago. This was stronger, deeper. She let it take over her as she shifted back into her younger self, the younger Faith who knew how to handle Dani when she was like this.

She was on her knees next to her sister's shaking form. "Dani. Dani, tell me what's wrong."

"They can't see!" Her sister screamed in response, beginning to claw at her own eyes.

Willow grabbed the younger girls' arms, not wanting Dani to hurt herself, but that just made the girl freak further. She cried out, struggling against the redhead, wanting to break free of whatever she thought was tormenting her.

"What," Faith asked, putting her hands on her sister's shoulders. "What can't they see, Dan?"

"No! They can't _see_!" She screamed again, violently kicking out. Willow let out a grunt of pain as Dani's foot connected with her stomach.

"Hold her legs down," Faith instructed, not looking away from her sister. "Dani, tell me what you see."

"It hurts! Make the sun come back! I don't want to play!" Her arms waved about in front of her, trying to ward off what was scaring her. Faith caught her wrists in a gentle, but strong Slayer grip. She could see the moisture on her sister's cheeks reflecting in the moonlight.

"Dan, we can't help you if you don't-"

The smaller Lehane's ear-piercing scream drowned out what Faith was saying. Faith, thrown off guard and flinching at the noise, loosened her grip. Immediately the girl wretched herself away from the witch and the Slayer and threw herself against the opposite wall of the motel room. She shrank down to the carpet, knees in front of her chest and head in her hands. She continued to cry and call out to whatever she was seeing inside her mind.

Faith caught Willow's eyes, and could see how shaken the redhead was by what was going on. But Faith couldn't deal with comforting the confused redhead. Right now Dani was her priority.

"Get her a glass of water," she instructed, her voice hard and low, "And her sketchbook and a pen."

For her part, the witch didn't question the brunette's instructions. She gave a painful look over at the girl on the floor, looked back at Faith, and nodded, getting up off the bed to do as Faith had asked.

Faith moved off the bed as well, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her sister.

"Shhh, Dani, it's okay."

"White as snow," Dani whimpered, "White as snow."

Faith moved to place an encouraging hand on her sister arm, but at the girl's shriek she dropped it. Contact wasn't always a good thing when Dani was like this.

"What's white as snow, Dani?"

The crying girl bit her lip, looking at her sister with fear in her eyes. "The people. White as snow. They're like snow. Fleece as white as snow. Fleece. The sheep. With red." She whimpered again, "So much red. Red everywhere. It's not clean anymore." Her lip trembled as more tears slipped over her cheeks.

Faith felt the witch sit down next to her, but without looking away from her sister she held up a hand to the redhead, signalling her to wait until she told her what to do.

"Tell me what you see Dani. Tell me what's there."

The small brunette looked straight ahead, looking eerily right through her sister, seeing something the other two in the room couldn't.

Her breathing increased, and she took a sharp gasp of air, "I… no, I… can't, no."

"Yes, you can." Faith's voice was gentle, "Tell me what's there." She didn't look away from her sister's scared eyes, focusing all her attention on the shaking girl.

"I… just pictures… not like the rest. Quick. Little movie theatres. But there's no Mickey. The mice are all gone. The mice. With little teeth. They all ran. Ran ran ran away."

"Why did they run away?"

"Because of the red! Can see the red. They hurt!"

"Dani, I don't understand. You've gotta be clearer for me."

"Cut into pieces. Cut off their tails," she moaned, "Cut off their tails with a carving knife. So much red. They can't see but they know they did it right. Cut off all the tails."

Still shaking slightly, Dani was no longer screaming or crying. She just stared straight ahead, a fearful look on her face. The younger brunette took a deep, shuddering breath and Faith handed her the glass of water.

"Tell me more, Dani," Faith instructed softly as her sister sipped the water.

"He's hungry. _It's_ hungry. Wants to gobble the world."

"Who?"

The panicked girl from moments ago had been replaced by one almost in a trance. She relayed what she was seeing to her sister, "The leader. They can't see it, but it's the king. Rules the castle. Hiding. Like the big bad wolf. With horns. Under the ground. Beneath you. Wants to eat them."

"From beneath you, it devours," Willow whispered.

"The sheep are gone. All in red. Red, the red water. Swimming in the red water. Only a few left. They cried. It ate them up. Like the wolf."

"A demon?"

"No face. No, no, not right. Not right. Has a face. Too many. All the faces. The pain. The pain feeds it. Stronger." She leaned forward suddenly, grabbing Faith's shoulders, "Close the door!"

"It's okay Dani, the door's closed. You're safe," Faith assured her. "What kind of demon is it, Dani?"

The younger Lehane frowned deeply, "It… can't… can't see it, too many, too much red, sea of red, can't see through."

"Can you draw it for me?"

Dani relaxed almost instantly, leaning against the wall and letting her hair fall in front of her face. She nodded once, and Faith motioned for Willow to hand the girl the sketch pad. The moment it was in her hands Dani's pencil began gliding across the page. She didn't look down. She simply closed her eyes and drew exactly what she was seeing.

The Slayer ran a hand through her hair as she stood up, motioning the witch to follow her outside the room. She could see Willow was apprehensive about leaving Dani.

"Don't worry," Faith said softly, "She's fine now."

"She won't…?"

"No. It's over. She won't freak out again." She nodded her head towards the door and led Willow outside.

They stood on the porch, looking out at the parking lot. A few cars sparsely placed along the tarmac indicated they weren't the only people staying there. It was quiet out, the only noise coming from the occasional traffic on the street.

"What…" Willow asked, leaning on the paint-chipped railing, "What was that?"

"She saw something," Faith breathed out. "Not just the usual things she sees and hears in her head all the time, those are like background noise. Just now, she saw somethin' specific."

"A vision? Like Cordelia when she sees someone in trouble."

Faith shrugged, "Never seen Queen C do her thing, but I guess. That was about a four."

"Huh?"

"A four. Out of five. One is the background things she hears and learned to ignore. Two is when she stops what she's doing to listen; zones out in a conversation. A three is something bigger; she starts to freak out a bit. And that was a four."

"So, what's a five then."

"A really bad one. Like, apocalypse-worthy vision. I've never been able to calm her down during one of those, just have to let her scream it out."

Faith watched the redhead turn to look at the door to their room, as if trying to see the girl on the other side. "She… she really flipped."

"I think when Cordy gets hers, she just sees people in danger," Faith said, recalling what she knew from the few times Angel came to visit her in prison. She had been mighty surprised when he told her Cordelia was vision-girl, helping him help the helpless. "Dani… Dani doesn't just see that. I think she sees more of the demon than the person in trouble. She can hear what they're thinkin'. No real surprise she spooks."

_And, she's probably used to freaking out now. When she was with me, I'd calm her down. The doctors probably think she's just having some psychotic episode and end up makin' it worse._

Faith shuddered, trying not to picture her sister in the institution. Trying not to think about the doctors sedating her during a vision, thinking she was just resisting treatment.

Willow turned to look away from Faith, but her voice was still clear, "I barely understood what she was saying. Everything was so… jumbled."

"Yeah. It gets worse during a vision, understanding her. I mean, she throws random things into what she's saying most of the time, but when she's like that…" she sighed heavily, "it's like she can't find words for what she sees. You just learn to see…the uh, symbolism and shit I guess."

Willow turned back to her, a ghost of a small gracing her features, "Symbolism and shit, eloquent."

The Slayer rolled her eyes.

"So you understood most of that? I mean, I caught the 'from beneath you' thing."

_Red enters Scooby-mode in three, two, one…_

Willow continued, "She was having a vision about The First, wasn't she?"

"Think so." When Willow raised her eyebrows Faith continued. "The beneath you stuff, that's The First's catch phrase, yeah?"

"Mmm," the witch agreed, "Buffy said she's heard it in her dreams lately, when she was seeing the Potentials getting attacked by the Bringers."

Faith nodded. She'd had that too, the dreams about the Potentials dying. Not a whole mess of them, and not very often, but they had happened a few times over the last few months. But she didn't mention it out loud; she didn't want to get another earful about not bringing up her Slayer dreams.

"I'm not really sure if I caught anything else though," Willow said. "Did anything jump out at you?"

"The colour red. She said the word red a few times. She uses that a lot, after a vision. She means blood."

Faith could practically see the wheels in the witch's head begin to turn. "She said the sheep where red. So…she saw bloody sheep?"

"Not sheep," the Slayer shook her head, pushing off from the railing in favour of pacing in front of the door. "She said the people were white as snow. Like the sheep from the nursery rhyme…"

"Little Bo Peep."

"Right, that. She was comparing the people to the sheep in the rhyme. I think she saw dead bodies. White, pale skin, covered in blood."

Willow grimaced, "Pleasant."

"The Potentials? She said something about not being able to see and cutting into pieces."

"Bringers," Willow's voice was flat.

"Yeah, I'm thinkin' those are our no-eyed men, cutting the girls into pieces."

"So," the redhead looked weary, "were they other girls we haven't found yet, or the ones we're protecting?"

"Rose said she's been worse lately, I'm guessing she's having versions of this vision over and over again, watching the girls die. It doesn't necessarily mean she's seeing new girls. We'll know when she's done her sketches."

"You mentioned sketching to her and she just…"

"Best way to calm her. Let her draw it out. She knows she can't find the words she wants, but drawing whatever it is quiets whatever's in her mind."

"And she'll be okay?"

"Soon as we figure out what she saw."


	26. November 11, 1989

_**November 11, 1989**_

Faith sat down on the bed, picking up the thin book from school she was supposed to read. Opening it to the first page, she began reading, _Maggie the rabbit was a very curious rabbit. She had brown fur and a snow-white cotton tail. One day, Maggie was playing in the field with her brothers and sisters when…_

Faith's eyes drifted from the page, first wandering over the bedspread then across to where Dani sat on the other bed.

The other girl was staring out the window intently while her hand moved in small motions, dragging the crayon over the paper. Dani wasn't the same now, she was quieter, and rarely talked to anyone besides her sister. Faith watched as Dani worked the crayon like magic, mimicking the colours and shapes of the tree outside the window without having to look down at the page.

The doctor had said Dani wouldn't be the same anymore. He had used big confusing words and described things in a way Faith couldn't follow. Faith wasn't even sure her mother understood what the doctor had said.

But from what Faith grasped, Dani's brain was broken. She'd landed on her head and lost a lot of blood. Her brain was damaged and couldn't think the same anymore. Now Faith had to watch as her sister struggled to keep up in their class. The smaller girl would get a blank look on her face often, confused by things that shouldn't confuse her.

She was still her sister, still Dani. Just… different now.

"What're you drawing, Dani?"

Without looking away from the window her sister answered, "Trees." Her hand continued to move effortlessly across the page; Dani seemed to know where her hand was and didn't need to look at the paper as she drew. It was a talent Faith didn't have.

Faith could draw stick people. That was about it.

But the artwork was good for her sister; it gave her something to do.

"When is Mama coming back?"

"I'm not sure," Faith answered. Their mother had gone out grocery shopping that morning before Faith and Dani left for school; twelve hours later she still wasn't back yet.

Their mother was different now too. Before, when Faith or Dani got hurt, she'd just shrug it off, calling them clumsy. Even when it wasn't clumsiness that injured them. Faith had only been in the hospital three times: once because of a broken arm, once because of a dislocated shoulder, and once because Dani had had a bad gash on her cheek. Those weren't the only injuries that were emergency-room worthy, those were just the ones that Lara felt bad about and decided to act like a parent.

Now, with the doctors more involved with their life because of Dani's condition, their mother had to come up with lots of explanations as to why Dani had bruises all over her body. Lara was a private person; she didn't like anyone, especially doctors, nosing around in her business.

Thankfully most of the trips Dani had to take to the doctors were over now. She had pills she was supposed to take at certain times every day; a job Faith had taken to managing diligently when it was clear her mother wasn't going to administer them when she was supposed to.

Faith got up and went to stand at the window, careful not to be in Dani's view. Their building and the one across the street were the same, plain red brick stretching on in both directions down the street. Door, windows, next unit. Door, windows, next unit. They all looked the same. Every second unit there was a large tree sitting in the middle of the side walk, to try to make the neighbourhood look nicer. In the summer it helped, the green adding colour. Right now though, mid-November, the trees looked dry and lifeless.

Faith looked back at her sister. Besides her hand, Dani hadn't moved.

"How do you do that?"

"Just do," Dani shrugged, finally looking away from the window. She looked down at the paper and smiled slightly, pleased with her work. "Here."

Faith took the piece of paper and placed it on the small desk in the room. The tabletop was littered with other drawings Dani had made. She'd drawn the inside of their bedroom dozens of times now. Dani used to draw before the accident, but she was doing it a lot more often now.

"We need to get you a book."

"What?"

"A book," Faith clarified, "for you to draw in. That way all the pictures stay together."

Her sister smiled at her, "I'd like that."

A clatter coming from the hallway caused both girls to look up. "Girls, girls come here, quick!" Their mother, her voice cheerful, called.

They obliged, meeting Lara in the front hall. "Here, go put these in the kitchen," she instructed, indicating the grocery bags at her feet. "Just on the table though, don't bother to put 'em away. We've got something more important to do!"

Faith and Dani did as they were told, Faith keeping a wary eye on their mother. When she'd left in the morning she had been irritated, slamming the door. Her smile and bright eyes now, although a welcome change, made Faith nervous. Good things didn't tend to last in their lives.

"So?" Faith asked.

"I've got a surprise!"

"A surprise?" Dani asked. "What kind?"

"A good one. A very, very good one."

Faith waited, knowing a surprise could mean just about anything.

"I know it's late," Lara continued, "we'll have to get something to eat on the way."

"To where?"

"A carnival! There's a carnival in town!"

Dani didn't react. Faith looked sceptically at her mother, frowning slightly.

When Lara glared at her, Faith realized and corrected her mistake. "Oh, that sounds like fun, Mom," she said with fake enthusiasm.

Lara nodded, pleased with her daughter's response. "I thought you'd like it. It looks like so much fun! Get your coats, we're going right now!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later found the three Lehane's entering the carnival grounds. Dani's eyes were wide and she clutched Faith's hand tightly. They had never been somewhere like this before, with so many people. The carnival was set up in the back of a large parking lot, with a small assortment of rides, games, and junk food stands. Hardly ten steps in, and it was clear their mother was having the time of her life. The genuine smile on her face had not left since she'd piled them into the car.

"Oh, look, cotton candy!" Lara dragged them over to the small booth, handing Faith a wooden stick with strange pink fluff on it and keeping one for herself. She watched as her mother picked off the fluff piece by piece and began eating it. Faith mimicked her, not wanting to make her angry.

The fluff melted in her mouth, tasting very sweet. She passed the stick to Dani, who wore a very small smile.

"Here, eat some." Dani used her free hand to take some of the candy fluff. "Dani, you have to try to be happy. We have to keep Mom happy," she whispered.

"Okay."

"Oh, girls, look! They have a petting zoo!"

The pair obediently followed their ecstatic mother over to a pen with animals inside.

"Daniela, can you tell Mommy what kind of animals they have?" Lara asked, speaking to Dani as if she were a much younger child.

Dani looked at the animals and then back at her mother.

"Go on Daniela, talk for Mommy."

Faith squeezed her sister's hand encouragingly.

"They have goats."

"Yes!" Lara squealed. "Goats and pigs and donkeys! Aren't they cute?" She took the younger girl's hand, "Come on, let's go feed them! Wait here Isabel. We'll be right back."

Their mother dragged Dani into the line with her and then entered the pen. She was given a handful of feed from the man in charge of the animals. Immediately the cluster of goats surrounded them. Lara looked delighted.

So did Dani.

Faith watched, amazed, as her sister's face lit up at the sight of the animals up close. She took some of the feed from their mother and held her hand out to the animals. And she giggled as her hand was licked clean.

The older brunette was stunned. How had Lara known the animals would be good for Dani? Faith had thought her sister would be afraid of them.

When the pair exited the pen Dani ran to her sister and laughed, "They tickled," she told her.

"Yeah? You liked them."

Dani nodded.

"Come on, look, they have pony rides! Isabel, you should go on the pony rides!"

Faith looked at where her mother was pointing; a small ring under a red tent, with ponies tethered and walking around the edge of the ring in a large circle.

"Uh… that's okay."

"Come on now honey, Dani got to pet the goats, you should ride the horses."

"No, Mom, I don't-"

Lara wasn't going to give in, "Isabel, your sister shouldn't ride the ponies. But someone has to. Come on." She took Faith's hand and began walking towards the tent.

Faith stopped arguing. She didn't want to make her mother upset, however much she didn't want to ride the ponies.

Her sister and mother stood behind a yellow rope watching as Faith was helped up onto the back of one of the ponies by the ride manager. The animal was brown, with a long, messy black mane and tail. The ride manager said his name was Dreamer, which Faith though was a really odd name for an animal. Four other children were helped up onto the remaining animals, and once everyone was settled, they began walking in a slow circle.

Faith had to admit, it was amusing, riding the horse. However her excitement level was nowhere near that of her mother's, who was waving and cheering her on. Faith plastered on a smile. Her mother was having a good day, she should be grateful.


	27. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Faith, I've got it. We'll be fine."

"Two minutes, tops."

"Faith, please don't feel the need to explode your bladder on my part, really. We'll be fine."

"Two minutes," the Slayer insisted, holding up two fingers to Willow before darting off to find a washroom.

_If she breaks some vital organ because she is trying to pee too fast it will not be my fault. I told her we'd be fine._

Willow turned to her companion, "Your sister doesn't trust us. She probably thinks we'll wander off or something."

"Longer."

Willow blinked, "What?"

"Longer than two. It's closed. She has to find another one."

The witch looked incredulously at the brunette, "You had a vision that the bathroom is out of order?"

A childlike smile erupted on Dani's face, "No! We passed it. There was a sign on the door."

All the redhead could do was laugh. Dani joined in too, the bright look in her eyes not leaving.

They were in the airport, having just gotten off the plane. Faith, being the big, tough Slayer she was had refused to use the washroom on the plane and was forced to wait until they were through the customs to try to find one. As they had left their terminal Willow had slowly eased off the glamour the twin Lehane's were wearing, allowing them to blend in with the crowds of people in L.A.'s airport.

"Lots of people," the brunette said, looking around as they stood by the baggage claim.

Willow had to agree. Considering Los Angeles had been plunged into darkness only a few short days ago, they had really bounced back.

_Must be like Sunnydale. People only see what they want to see and ignore just about everything else._

_I wonder if everywhere is like this. Maybe it's just a California thing. _

_Or maybe it's just a demon-city thing. They congregate here, so the people are–_

"Willow!"

The witch looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice. In the sea of fast moving people it was easier said than done.

"Willow! Willow!"

A sudden panic invaded the redhead. Where was Faith? If that was Xander what would happen if Dani freaked when she saw him like she had with Willow in the parking lot? Sure, she was great with the girl when she was happy, but last night had been a clear example of how only Faith knew how to help her sister when she was flipping out.

"Willow!"

She located the source of the voice. "Andrew?" She'd been looking for Xander's dark hair, not Andrew's sandy blonde.

The younger man rushed over to the redhead, throwing his arms around her in a hug. Willow stood rather awkwardly, not quite feeling the enthusiasm Andrew was. It was Andrew, she liked him, but she'd only been gone two days. Was the hug necessary?

"Um, hi?" She said as he released her.

"I'm so glad I found you. There are so many people, and I wasn't sure where exactly you'd be so I've just kind of been floating around hoping to spot you!"

"Uh, right. Andrew, what are you doing here?"

The sandy blonde man looked confused, "I'm picking you up from the airport."

"Um… wasn't Xander…?"

"Oh, yes, well, change of plans." He looked like an excited puppy, bouncing happily on his heels.

"How did you… get here?" The redhead was still having trouble understanding.

_Why is he here? What's going on?_

"I drove."

"You can drive?"

"Yes, I'm younger than you but I'm not completely useless! I can drive. I drove all the way here," he nodded, pleased with himself, "to get you."

"And why couldn't Xander…?"

"Oh, well, you know."

"No. I don't, Andrew. That's why I'm asking."

The man's eyes widened and he nodded slowly, looking like an evil mastermind, "It's probably best we explain our," his voice dropped to a whisper, "_other lives_ somewhere where we can't be overheard."

The witch shook her head and sighed. Andrew was… well he was Andrew. Always making things more dramatic than necessary.

He suddenly seemed to notice the brunette standing next to Willow. "Faith! I'm glad you're back and…" he stepped back to actually look at her, "…and wearing a dress? A yellow sundress?"

Willow giggled, _he looks like he tried to swallow a horse._

"I mean," He went on, "we haven't exactly had a lot of time to socialize, but, well, the dress seems…unlike you?" he said carefully.

Dani stared at him. After almost a full minute she turned to Willow, "He thinks I'm Faithie," she whispered.

"Yeah, he does," she said back in the same tone of voice.

"Why?"

"You two look alike. And he's easily confused."

"What are you two whispering about? We need to get out of here and back to Sunnydale!"

"Yeah, Andrew," Willow said, smirking at him, "it's just that-"

"Sorry it took me so long!" Faith said, rushing up to trio, out of breath. "The bathroom was out of order; had to find another one. And I didn't really have any idea where I was going." She noticed Andrew standing there, mouth hanging open, "Hey Andy, what's up?"

Looking back and forth between Faith and Dani, Andrew gaped at them.

And gaped.

And gaped.

"Wha…? What's going on?"

"He thought I was you," Dani informed her sister, to which Faith nodded, unfazed.

Andrew however was fazed. Very, very fazed. His head swivelled to looking at each of the sisters, mouth still hanging open in astonishment.

_Okay, it may be a little freaky seeing them stand next to each other the first time, but I don't think I looked quite like _that_._

The Slayer finally cleared her throat, "Andrew, my sister, Daniela. Dani this is Andrew."

Andrew finally seemed to shift back to his usual self, "Is this what the family emergency was about? Reuniting with your long-lost sister? Ah, a tragic tale, like that of our Luke and Leia, separated at birth but together at last."

"Andrew, she's been living in Boston. We're not long-lost," Faith said as she rolled her eyes at the geeky reference.

"Right, well, we should head out. My bones are aching. Storm's coming on girls. We'd better get home quick."

"What?" the redhead gave the blonde man a confused look, "It's raining out?" _What is he talking about? It wasn't raining when we landed; I had the window seat!_

"What? No. It's a quote. It's from Sta-," he caught the look Faith was giving him, "Oh, never mind."

Following his lead, the three women made their way out of the airport towards Xander's car. It was dark outside and the redhead was feeling extremely jet-lagged. After their delayed flight had finally decided to take off, they had flown for two hours from Boston to New York, and then waited three hours before their transfer to Los Angeles. Another five and a half hours later, they'd landed in L.A. shortly after eight at night. Having spent most of the day on the plane or in the airport, and then the silly business of the time difference, Willow was feeling exhausted.

Faith and Dani got in the back seat while Willow slumped in the front next to Andrew. After navigating them through the mayhem of the busy airport parking lot and screaming "Hab Sosli Quch" at someone that cut him off – Willow had no idea what the hell that was but was too afraid to ask – Andrew managed to get them onto the highway, where it was smooth sailing.

And it was once they were on the highway that Willow decided to bring up the question that had been nagging her since Andrew had shown up at the airport.

"Not to be rude, Andrew," she said, looking sidelong at him, "But why is it you picking us up and not Xander?"

"Ah, yes, that is a good question."

"You gonna answer it?" Faith piped in from the backseat.

Andrew laughed nervously, "Well… you see… while you were gone, there was…"

"You planning on getting that out anytime soon?"

Andrew glared at Faith through the rear-view mirror, "There was… an attack last night."

"What!" Willow screeched at the same time Faith cursed, "Fucking hell."

"Ouch, I have sensitive eardrums you know."

"What happened?" Willow insisted. "Was it at the house?"

"No, yesterday evening. Buffy, Spike and Xander took some of the Potentials out on patrol. Sadly, I was not allowed to accompany and film them –I've been working on fixing my video camera – but they wouldn't let me join," he paused, making a show of how hurt he was by this. "Anyway, they were at the park by your house. Sunnydale is basically empty, and Buffy figured the park would have more room for a training session than the backyard. Especially after you," he looked at the Slayer, "broke the porch."

Faith grumbled. "Be thankful, I was saving your scrawny ass."

"Andrew," Willow said, trying to keep her voice calm, "I don't care where they were or why they were there. I just care what happened. What. Happened?"

"I was _getting there._ They were training at the park – not a whole lot of _vampyrs_ around now, but Buffy still takes them on patrolling. Anyway, there was an ambush. Nasty demons. Buffy said Caleb was there, watching the demons attack."

"Fuck, we dropped a church on him, and he's still alive?"

Andrew nodded, "Apparently. One of the Potentials broke her arm. And Xander has a nasty gash over his eye. He's okay," Andrew insisted before Willow could get a word in, "really, it's not that bad. He has a bandage over it now – he kind of looks like a pirate at the moment– but when it's healed I said he'd look like Scar from The Lion King. You know, with the scar over his eye?" When nobody laughed he continued, "Giles suggested that it may not be a good idea for him to drive around yet, so I volunteered."

"But he's okay?" _Oh Goddess, I left them. I left them and they got hurt. Xander got hurt. What if it had been worse?_

"He's okay. Just a nasty cut. Don't panic your pretty little red-haired head."

"What were they?" Faith asked.

"Well I wasn't there, but Kennedy said the demons that attacked looked like… well, her exact words were 'the bastards looked like what would happen if you threw Pumba and a lobster in a blender. Only bigger.' Giles found them in a book. He said they were, um, I think he called them _Aperunguiculata_. There was a picture," he grimaced, "it wasn't pleasant."

Faith looked sceptical, "You guys were attacked by pigs with fucking lobster claws?"

"Pretty much. They're pretty primitive demons."

"And that means what?"

"Primitive," Andrew clarified, "something that occurred early-"

"I know what the word means, dweebe," the brunette snapped. "I meant, why is that important?"

"If you're going to call me names, I'd prefer geek or nerd, at least those are relative. Anyway, it's like the Krveprolití demons from the other night, and the other demons we've seen in town before you got here. They're all really old."

"Not seeing the connection Andrew. We've already been over this," Willow said.

"There's no _vampyrs_ in town besides the Turok-Han, and most of the lower demons had skipped out too. The only ones Buffy's mentioned seeing while on patrol with the Potentials, that we've been able to find in the books anyway, are really old demons. Dawn noticed it actually, that all the things we've seen lately aren't the usual newer breed of demon that inhabit our lovely town. That girl could beat out Giles with her research skills."

_Harrumph,_ Willow thought, _I thought I was head research gal._ And then her brain made the connection. "Oh!" she exclaimed quietly to herself.

Andrew was still going on, "I mean, besides The First and its army, there aren't a whole lot of demons around, period. Most of the nests and local haunts are empty. Both of demons and people. But there are still a few groups of demons hanging around, and Dawn came up with the idea that-"

"That they're being influenced by The First," Willow finished.

"Hey, way to steal my big finish!"

"No, you're right though," Willow went on. "That makes sense. Whenever the Hellmouth acts up, the demons scatter. They can always tell when the big guns are coming, and don't want to be hit in the crossfire. The only reason demons stay is if they think the Big Bad is someone they want to align with, or if there's an incentive for them to stay.

"But The First is old, right," Willow said, turning to look at Faith and Dani in the backseat, the latter of which was looking out the window while sketching something in the dim light, not paying attention. "It's got us scared. It's going to have any demon in town scared. But it's old. It must have some kind of connection, some kind of influence, on really primitive demons. That would be the only reason they'd be in town. And be attacking us."

Faith looked thoughtful for a moment, "Those demons the other night, the blood-gushing ones; Anya said they weren't from here."

"Exactly, it-"

"You know, it's nice that you two are jumping on the thought train," Andrew said cheerfully, "But we did already figure this out while you two were away. Demons old, First old, First tells old demons to keep us busy while it builds its army. I was just filling you in, we don't have to do the whole _what's the connection_ thing since the connection thing has actually already been done." He caught the look Willow was giving him, "But by all means," he smiled, "Go on. I'll just be here, driving."

Willow, still turned in her seat, watched Faith ran a hand through her hair. "Damn, forgot how much faster the world turns in SunnyD. We're gone two days and miss all the action and the research… not that I'm minding missin' the research."

"You wouldn't," Willow laughed.

"Hey, I do my part. I'm a Slayer, I slay, not read."

"She has a point," Andrew put in.

Willow wasn't listening though, she was too busy getting caught up in Faith's smile. Because, well, it was a dazzling smile. Faith usually had her trademark smirk on, but when she smiled…

_I am so hopeless it isn't even funny anymore. I mean just look at her. She's so… I don't even have words. I could just stare at her smile all day. Actually, I bet that'd be a job I'd be really good at. Official Faith-smile ogler. That'd be me. I wouldn't get bored of that. Not at all._

The redhead suddenly realized she was still staring transfixed at Faith and quickly looked away, hoping the brunette hadn't noticed.

If Faith had noticed, she didn't get the time to tease Willow.

When pointedly looking away from Faith, Willow had looked at Dani. The girl was still sketching, though it couldn't be anything outside; one, because the car was moving too fast for her to sketch one particular thing, and two, because it was too dark for her to see anyway.

It was pure chance that Willow looked over when she did. About to ask the girl what she was drawing, she got as far as opening her mouth before it happened.

She watched as Dani's hand stilled, slackened, and dropped the pencil. It landed on the sketchbook and rolled off onto the seat.

Dani was staring blankly at the back of Andrew's seat, a faraway look in her eyes.

Faith was still laughing at whatever Andrew had just said; she hadn't noticed.

But Willow did. And she heard as the girl whispered, "You should stop now."

"Dani?" she asked.

It was all that was needed. Just that one word, along with her tone of voice, was enough to set Faith into action, leaving Andrew very confused as he continued driving.

"Dan, what's wrong?" Faith asked, turning to look at her sister.

"Stop," she whispered again.

"Why, what do you see?"

"Red means stop. The car should stop now," her voice was monotone.

"What's going on back there?"

"Why should we stop, Dani?" Willow asked.

The girl shook her head, her brown curls swinging around her face, "I can hear it."

"Hear what?"

"Andrew," Faith barked without taking her eyes off her sister, "Pull the car over."

"But wh-"

"Just do it," Faith insisted harshly.

The young man complied, pulling the car off onto the side of the empty highway.

"What do you see, Dani?"

"It isn't happy."

"What isn't happy?"

"Is she okay?"

Willow glanced at Andrew, "Kinda need you to be quiet."

"But I-"

"Not now; we'll explain later." She turned back to the brunettes in the back seat. Dani wasn't screaming and freaking out like she had been last night, but she still looked upset.

"Dani, you've gotta talk to me. What is it?"

The younger Lehane gasped, "Outside! I can hear it!"

Faith looked towards the front seat. "Everybody out of the car. Willow," she turned to look at the redhead. "Stakes?"

"Got them," Willow replied, already leaning forward and opening the glove compartment. Trust a Scooby to keep weapons stealthily hidden within the car.

The group got out of the vehicle, looking around for whatever it was Dani was seeing inside her head.

"I still don't know what's going on," Andrew whined.

"After, we'll explain after," Willow insisted, looking to Faith for what to do next.

The brunette was surveying their surroundings. Andrew had pulled over next to a small ditch, with a dense patch of trees a few yards ahead. "You hear that?" she asked.

"That loud, angry, grunting?" Andrew asked, "No. I can't hear that."

Faith waved a hand behind her, silencing him as she took a step forward. "Stay by the car."

"Faith," Willow said wearily, her mind already jumping to think up horrible scenarios in which they all died a horrible, bloody death, "You don't know what's out there. Dani didn't exactly say what she-"

The redhead watched the Slayer look over her shoulder. "She's not freaked," she said, nodding to her sister. "If it was something really bad, she'd be acting like she was last night. Just… stay by the car. Keep them safe."

Willow nodded even though Faith's back was to her. The Slayer took a few more steps forward and then leaped across to the other side of the ditch.

And then the demon exploded from inside the woods.

_What in Hecate's name is _that!

It didn't seem to matter what exactly it was, it was a demon, so Faith went into slay-mode. She jabbed the stake forward as the demon lunged towards her. She caught it on its massive shoulder, breaking the skin, but the demon charged forward, knocking the Slayer down.

Daniela screamed the minute the demon burst from the tree-line, so Willow had quickly grabbed her and hugged her close, turning her away from the scene. She was shaking and mumbling nonsense words, but Willow just held her, rubbing her back. "It's okay Dani, Faith will get it. Faith will get it."

"This you're fucking demon, Andrew? Jesus fucking Christ, you didn't say it was the size of a baby elephant!" Faith yelled, getting back to her feet as the demon attacked her again.

_That's actually a pretty accurate descrip– ohh, that must have hurt._

The demon was definitely one of the ones Andrew had said attacked Buffy and the Potentials the other night. On four legs it was at least four feet tall and could easily weigh three hundred pounds. Its hide was made of dark, thick skin, and despite it being so large it was moving extremely fast.

The boar-like creatures face had sunken-in sockets where its eyes should have been, and in addition to the two small tusks protruding from its mouth were the things that must have made Kennedy say it resembled a lobster. Extending from each shoulder was a limb with brown, pinscher-like claws at the end.

The beast was grunting and growling as it continued to charge at Faith, who was trying her best to keep out of its way while still weaken it. She had made a nice looking gash on its shoulder and had discovered that despite it being fast, it was nowhere near as agile. Willow actually laughed when the brunette had jumped out the way of its charge and it had run into a tree.

"Shit, it's like trying to shove a stake through a car tire," Faith called angrily.

"Are there any other weapons in the car?" Andrew asked the girl next to him.

"No, we try not to keep knives or swords in the car. If we got pulled over it might look bad, you know? Here, keep her back," the redhead said, passing the trembling Dani into Andrew's arms. He looked a little uncomfortable but didn't say anything as she moved away from him towards the Slayer.

_What exactly do you plan to do? You can't just conjure a nice, pointy knife out of thin air for her. How exactly do you plan to help?_

"Willow! What are you doing?" Faith asked, taking her eyes off the demon and looking at the witch.

Unfortunately, this was all the incentive the monster needed to attack the distracted Slayer. It charged. Faith managed to get out of the way, but not before one of its claws nicked her leg. It wasn't a deep wound, but Willow could see a slow dark patch begin to appear on the brunette's jeans.

"You can't stake it while it's charging at you!" Willow yelled back.

"And how the hell are you gonna fix that?"

_I'm going to distract it._

_Goddess, please let this work._

Taking a slow, deep breath Willow closed her eyes to the scene before her and let her mind go blank, willing herself to feel the power inside her.

_I can do this,_ her voice echoed inside her head.

She reached deeper, tapping into the source of her power.

First, she brought herself to her calm, inner place. While she'd been in England the Coven had been very enforcing of this element of her magic; visualizing a peaceful, relaxing place. She'd done it so many times in England, picturing what peace looked like to her, that it came naturally now. In her mind's eye she stood on a beach, the ground cool under her bare feet. The beach wasn't a sandy one; it had an assortment of pebbles and flat rocks leading into the gently lapping water before her. Behind her was a quiet wood, with ancient trees that encased the calm scene.

After a few moments of listening to the sound of the water, Willow carefully altered the place she was standing. The water shifted colour and thickness, becoming a lake of pure magic. This was her balance, her core. This was the center of her magic. The magic was thicker than the water from a moment ago, and was more agitated. It moved with its own undulating rhythm, not like the gentle waves of the lake that had been there previously. Her magic was restless, like she was. Even here, surrounded by her creation of tranquility, she was uneasy.

_I can do this._

Her inner-self bent down and dipped a hand into the source of her power. Tendrils of magic flared-up at her touch. They were wild now. Months before, the pool of magic inside her had been a quiet lake of power, easily complying when she performed a magical spell. But after… after she'd abused her power, the lake was no longer calm. The power raged inside her, threatening to jump to the surface at any moment.

She cupped some of the liquid-magic in her hands, feeling it flow through and run off her fingers. It wasn't a steady colour, shifting from deep blues to light lavenders. And looking harder, she could see the slivers of white and black flowing through it. The white parts she enjoyed seeing, knowing that there was pure, good magic within her power source. It was the black she didn't like seeing. After what had happened with Warren and on the bluff before Xander had stopped her, she'd tapped into something dark. It was inside her now, part of her, connected to her. She could feel its pull, drawing her in, trying to escape her control.

_I can do this,_ Willow thought one final time as she pushed a small amount of the magic from the pool through herself.

Her eyes had only been closed for a fraction of a second, time moving differently when she looked at her inner-self. She pulled the tendril of magic through herself and into her palms, feeling them grow warm with power.

She felt it, the dark, painful tug; the darkness inside her whispering to her to let go, to let it take over. Every time she used her magic it was there, trying to overpower her.

Willow embraced the darkness for a moment, seeing the black film coat her eyes, diming the scene before her. Channelling the magic and whispering a few sacred words she released the flow of power out through her hands.

The dark bolt of magic struck the demon in the flank. The beast howled in rage, switching its focus from the Slayer to the witch. With rabid foam dripping from its mouth it charged towards her.

_That's it, come towards me_, she encouraged. It covered the distance quickly, running the stretch of grass in seconds and approaching the ditch that separated it from Willow.

Wind whipped around her hair, crackling with untapped power. Someone behind her was yelling with worry. Probably Andrew.

She didn't let her focus waver. Time slowed as the creature drew nearer, its eyes locked with hers.

Four strides before it hit the ditch. Three strides. Two–

The Slayer tackled the beast. Her stake clasped between her teeth she let her strong arms wrapping tightly around its thick neck and knocking it off course. The demon spun, pinschers snapping as it tried to knock her off. The Slayer, however, had other plans. Kicking her legs she managed to get herself astride the demons back.

Which, if the demon hadn't been pissed before…

Willow watched as Faith used her legs to grip the demon's sides, holding herself steady as the demon bucked and kicked, trying to throw her off. Grunting in anger, its deadly pinschers reached back, snapping at the brunette with malice.

The witch stood helpless a moment, unsure if she should intervene.

But she needn't have worried. The moment Faith had a strong enough grip with her legs she let go of the beast's neck with her hands. Without hesitating, she took the weapon from her teeth and plunged it into the feral demon's skull. With a howl of pain and anguish the creature's legs buckled, crashing it and Faith to the ground.

Now Willow acted. Moving quickly she ran to Faith, helping the Slayer to her feet.

"How'd you like that, you fucking warthog?" Faith asked, kicking the dead demon in the side. She retrieved the stake from its head, a small river of blue-black blood gushing forward from the wound. "Damn, Red, that was some mighty fine-"

Willow quickly turned away, not wanting Faith to see her like this, her magic taking over and threatening to drown her.

"Red?"

"Just…" she said breathily, "give me a minute." Squeezing her eyes shut and taking a deep, cleansing breath, she willed the black film she knew was there to retreat, pushing the darkness down and taking control of its wild power once again. Only once the witch was sure she was in control did she turn to face her companion. "Sorry," she offered. "Magic recoil."

"You okay?"

Willow grinned, "Five by five."


	28. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

To Faith, it felt eerily like she was reliving the night she had arrived in Sunnydale a few days ago. Dark outside, quietly slipping inside with Willow, unsure how the next few moments would go; she didn't like feeling so nervous or without control. Then she had been the unexpected guest. Now it was Dani who was being brought into the Summer's home unannounced.

"They're expecting us?" Willow asked as the group walked up onto the porch.

Andrew nodded, "Buffy said she and Spike would do a quick patrol without the Potentials, but said they'd be back before we got here."

Willow made eye contact with the Slayer, "You okay?"

Faith nodded mutely.

"It will be fine. They'll like her."

"She's different."

"Uh, have you seen our group of friends? She'll fit right in. Don't worry."

Faith held her breath as Willow opened the front door, leading herself and Andrew inside. Faith and her sister stood on the threshold a moment longer, neither quite ready to step inside.

"Was that the door? Will, are you guys back?" the brunette heard Dawn's voice ask.

"Yeah, hey guys," Willow replied. "Coming." She made eye-contact through the open doorway with Faith and smiled reassuringly before she and Andrew disappeared from sight into the dining room.

The open front door loomed in front of her. Faith was growing more and more nervous.

"Faithie?" Dani asked, one hand sneaking up to tug on her hair in a nervous habit.

Faith smirked at sister, putting on a false bravado, "Time to meet some new people. Go on, I'll be right behind you."

Dani nodded, cautiously followed Willow's path into the house and turning into the dining room. Faith held back a moment before moving inside as well, not being able to pass up a repeat of what had happened to Andrew at the airport.

"Hey Faith, how was the fli-_oh my God_."

"Faith?"

"Are you wearing a dress?"

"Holy shit."

"A yellow dress?"

"Did they lose all your luggage?"

"What the hell are you wearing?"

"Well this is a new look."

"A_ yellow _dress_?"_

Not being able to resist seeing their confused faces any longer, Faith stepped into sight of the people in the dining room, closing the front door behind her. "Hey," she said, a rather cheeky smile on her face as she leaned in the doorway.

Nearly every jaw in the room dropped.

Glancing at the redhead, Faith saw that she too was trying to hold back from laughing. The Scoobies looked pretty funny staring at her and her sister all dumbstruck-like.

Buffy was the first to break the silence that had descended the room. Shaking her head, the blond actually laughed. "Of course, of course you're a twin."

"Knew you'd understand, B."

"Is anyone else aware that there are now _two_ psychotic Slayers in the room?"

"Anya!" Giles scolded.

"What?"

"She isn't a Slayer," Faith clarified.

Xander's mouth was still hanging open, "She looks just like you."

"That's why they're twins, Xander," the younger Summers rolled her eyes.

"Damn, Faith, I'm sure you could get a guy to pay for-"

Anya leaned across the table and smacked him, "Don't even think of finishing that."

Willow, who was standing a few feet away, made eye contact with Faith. "Maybe some introductions would be a good idea?"

Faith bobbed her head, "Uh, yeah. Right. You guys, this is Dani. Dani, these are the Scoobies." After she had listed everyone in the room her sister looked at each of them in turn. Faith stayed quiet, gauging her sister's reaction.

Dani's eyes moved to Anya first. She looked confused for a moment before a deep frown etched itself into her features. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and breathed sharply through her nose.

"I am not comfortable with the way she is looking at me. Surely you can all see the uncomfortable way she is looking at me. Faith, make your carbon-copy-self stop looking at me like that."

"Dan?" Faith asked hesitantly.

The younger twin turned to look pleadingly at Faith before looking at Anya again. "She's not… right."

About to intervene before the blonde ex-demon became any more offended Faith began to take a step towards her sister. Her motion stopped however when Willow beat her to it.

"Dani, it's okay," Willow said in a gentle voice, placing hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Do you remember what Faith said yesterday, about me?"

Daniela nodded.

"Anya's kind of similar. She did some bad things in her past," Anya stopped glaring at Faith and instead shot daggers at Willow, "But she's good now. She helps us."

"But she's a…"

"Was," Willow corrected. "Anya was a demon. She isn't anymore. You don't have to be afraid of her."

Dani turned to look at her sister, as if wanting Faith to confirm what the redhead had said. Faith smirked and nodded at her sister, "Don't worry about her, Dani."

The younger Lehane nodded, pacified.

Faith suddenly became very aware of how quiet it was in the dining room. Everyone was either staring at her or at Dani with varying expressions of confusion and bewilderment.

_Well this is going well, everyone's suddenly gone mute. Could be worse though, I guess._

Dani continued her assessment of everyone in the room. Her eyes skimmed over Andrew, who had taken a seat next to the blonde ex-demon. Then to Dawn, where she looked startled for a moment. Buffy's sister sat very still under Dani's scrutinizing look, but eventually Dani murmured "Pretty lights," to herself before looking past Dawn. Her eyes hovered over Xander for a moment, taking in the man's bandage on his face.

However the calm was broken when Dani's eyes landed on Spike, who was leaning up against the china cabinet. The girl gasped and leaped back, bumping into Faith, who grunted in response. Faith stepped to the side, wrapping an arm around her sister's waist in a comforting gesture.

"What?" the blonde vampire asked, his confusion evident. "What'd I do?"

"How?" was the only word that came out of Daniela's mouth.

"How what?" Spike asked again, annoyed. "I didn't do anything."

"Spike," Buffy chided, "let her speak."

But Faith already had an idea of what her sister was seeing. "You okay, Dani?"

"It's bright. That's not… how?" she asked again. She turned her head to meet eyes with her sister, "But he's a…"

"A vamp, yeah."

Dani looked back at Spike, "They aren't supposed to look like that."

"Hey, now, what's wrong with the way I look?" the vampire scowled.

"She means your soul, dumbass."

Every member of the Scooby gang except for Willow gasped at the brunette Slayer's statement.

"She… she can see that?" Giles asked, looking very startled. He looked at Dani, "You can see his soul?"

Dani nodded without looking away from Spike. Faith was proud of her. Dani had been plagued with visions of evil vampires and demons most of her life, but was standing calmly before William the Bloody.

"He's like her?" She asked, eyes flicking to Anya again. "Not bad?"

"From what I'm told," the brunette Slayer replied.

Dani smiled nervously at Spike, who was still staring at her like she'd grown another head. "Okay," she said, content, and continued her appraisal of the Scooby gang. She glanced at Buffy for a few seconds before moving on to Giles. But Faith watched with a bemused grin on her face as Dani's head suddenly whipped back to lock eyes with Buffy.

"Hello," the blonde Slayer said lightly.

"Water," was Dani's only response.

"Uh…"

"There was water."

Buffy looked very confused. So did everyone else in the room. "When was there water?" she asked, eyes darting to Faith for a moment before looking back at the girl staring at her.

"When you died."

Faith nearly choked, she hadn't been expecting that. _Holy shit, how the hell does she know that? _Surveying the room, the Slayer could see everyone else had had similar reactions to Dani's sentence.

The blonde's mouth hung open slightly, "H-how did you know that?" she finally managed to ask.

"I… remember. I saw it. You," she glanced at her sister, "You're like Faith, you fight the bad things. Special. But the water; it happened before Faith. Right?"

"I-I'm a Slayer, yes." Buffy was still looking a little thrown, "But how did you know I drowned."

Dani frowned, unsure how to make Buffy understand, "I saw it."

Buffy's eyes travelled to lock with her sister Slayer's. "Explain."

The brunette shrugged, "She recognized you from a vision."

"Vision?" more than one voice asked.

"She's a Seer," Willow offered.

Aside from Xander's whistle of surprise, silence took over the room once again. Faith was getting a little agitated, not liking the way everyone was looking at either her or her sister. So she dropped some news on them, why did they have to act like it was such a big deal?

Anya was the first to break the silence, "Are there any more surprises you're going to throw at us? A big, black bag full of worms. Or bunnies maybe? Just for the fun of it?"

"Uh…No. S'about it." _That is it though, right? Dani, twin, Seer. Check. Nothing else that's going to render the whole gang speechless?_

"Faith, your sister… she has visions sent from the Powers that Be?" Giles asked, already in the process of removing a piece of linen from his pocket to clean his glasses. "That is most interesting."

Buffy was still looking at Dani. "When did you see me die?"

Dani's forehead creased as she thought, "I don't know. Before Faith."

"Which would make sense," Dawn suggested, "Since you died before Faith was Called."

"What did you see?" The blonde Slayer was persistent.

Dani whimpered.

"B, knock it off. She doesn't want to talk about it."

"But-" she stopped herself when she noticed Faith's glare.

_If I'm not liking the attention they're throwing at me, Dani must be hating it. This is way too many new people at once for her._

"So, she's like Cordy?" Xander asked. "Sees people getting hurt?"

"Not exactly."

"How long has she retained her abilities?" Giles asked. "And if she doesn't receive them in the same manner as Cordelia, can you explain how she does see them? I'm aware it is quite painful for Cordelia."

Faith was well aware of all the eyes in the room on her, waiting for her to reply. "They don't hurt her, physically. They just freak her out; I think she tends to see visions more of just the demons than the people the demons are attacking. Which reminds me, ran into one of your pig-demons, B."

"I told you one got away!" Spike piped-in, looking at the blonde Slayer.

"You dealt with it, I presume?" The Englishman asked.

"Yeah," Faith said offhandedly. She risked a glance at Willow, who shook her head slightly. _She still doesn't want to talk about doing magic in front of them._

"It's dead though?" Buffy asked.

"The hole through its skull makes me think that, yeah, it's dead."

The Scooby meeting didn't last much longer. Willow and Faith were filled-in on the attack that had happened last night at the park, most of the information being the same as what Andrew had told them in the car. Willow and Faith had then offered the information about Dani's vision. The faces she'd drawn in the sketches were too vague to offer any insight as to who the newly dead Potentials were. Eventually Faith, noticing Dani getting restless and growing more uncomfortable, excused herself to and get Dani set-up upstairs.

Leading Dani into Willow's bedroom, Faith found it empty. Of both sleeping bags and people.

_Okay, now I know I'm missin' something here. Pretty sure there should be a bunch of pipsqueaks sleeping in here._

She was so taken-back by the empty room she didn't notice the other Slayer's presence until she spoke, "It's just for the night."

Faith spun around, startled. "Huh?"

"The girls, not being in here. It's just for the night."

"Where are they?"

"Scattered around the house. I figured," she glanced at Dani, a soft smile on her face, "you said you were bringing her… bringing her back from… well I figured it would be better her first night here if she wasn't surrounded by a bunch of teenagers asking her if she's…"

"Crazy?" Faith supplied.

Buffy looked sharply at her, "I didn't… never mind." Faith was aware of how tired Buffy looked. A lot had happened in the sort time she'd been gone. "We raided a hardware store, so now we've got cots and air mattresses, not just sleeping bags. There's one for her," she nodded to the army cot that was sitting where Willow's roommates' sleeping bags have previously been. "And the girls will probably be back in here tomorrow night. I just figured your sister would want a night to herself, after being… where she was."

"Thanks," Faith said with sincerity. "Ya hear that Dan, you, me and Red get the room to ourselves."

The younger Lehane nodded, looking at Buffy with curious eyes.

"What?" Buffy asked.

Dani simply shook her head lightly and smiled, "It'll get better."

Buffy's eyes met Faith's, who shrugged in response.

"Come on Dani, it's been a long day. And lucky you, you get to meet all the girlies tomorrow. That'll be buckets of fun."

"We got another one while you were gone."

"Course you did." _Jesus fuck this house can't hold any more people._

_Why the hell did I let Willow drag me into this?_


	29. April 30, 1990

_**April 30, 1990**_

_Come on come on come on come on!_ Faith held the glass under the tap in the bathroom, willing it to fill with water faster.

"Get me that glass of water, you stupid cow!"

"I'm coming!" Faith called back, hastily shutting off the tap and running back to her mother's bedroom. The water sloshed in the cup, but didn't spill over the sides. Dani stood inside the room; eyes wide, one hand tugging a lock of hair, the other clutching the door handle tightly.

Faith pushed past her sister and brought the glass to her mother, who was lying on the bed in a tangle of sheets. "Took you long enough," Lara snapped as she took the water from Faith.

Lara downed the water quickly, and then a shaky hand tried to slam the glass down on the bed-side table. Instead of landing on the table, it landed on the corner of a book and tumbled to the floor.

Lara screeched, "Oh for Christ sake." Their mother brought one hand to her temple and the other gripped her stomach. She moaned in pain and withered on the bed.

"What's wrong? Mama?" Dani breathed.

"Dan-" Faith tried to answer.

"Get her out of here! Isabel, get your sister out of here!" Lara's voice was shrill and harsh.

Faith turned and moved towards the door. She grabbed her sister's hand and continued walking out into the hallway, "Dani, come on."

"But what's wrong with Mama?"

"Dani, come on," Faith repeated.

"Don't wanna! Faithie! What's wrong with her?"

"She's sick, okay?" Faith's free hand was pressed against the wall as she walked, groping through the darkness to find their room. When she did, she gripped the door-handle tightly and led her sister inside. "Come on," the older girl encouraged, "you need to go back to bed."

"Light!" Dani whined, pointing in the general direction of the window. Their mother, despite Dani's protests, felt night-lights weren't necessary. So Faith started leaving the blind partly open so the light from the streetlight would shine in the window. "Make the light!"

"Dani," Faith said harshly, forcing her sister onto the bed and crouching next to her. "I can't make the light come on. The power's out. That means the street lights don't work. I can't make it come back on. You need to go back to sleep without it, 'kay?."

"No light?" the smaller girl whimpered.

"No light." Faith repeated, stroking her sister's arm in order to calm her down. She could hear their mother calling out again, and knew she needed to get back. Lara was really sick, something that never happened.

"If Mama's sick... call the doctor?"

"We can't call the doctor; no power. Just go back to sleep. Dani, please, stay here. Don't come out until I come and get you."

The smaller girl nodded. Faith didn't waste any more time, she stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her. When she got back to their mother's room, Lara was sitting up in bed, eyes wide and red-rimmed in the candlelight.

"Make the walls stop breathin'! Fucking make them stop!"

"Mom, you need calm down. I don't-"

Faith was cut off by a loud and painful scream that ripped itself free of her mother's throat. The woman continued to curse and moan in pain, making Faith more and more worried.

The young brunette was no longer an innocent, naive child. She still pretended to accept her mother's lies, but she was starting to understand what her mother was really doing, what she was covering up.

Cocaine. The "medicine" her mother had been taking for years, stuff that only seemed to make her mood-swings worse. Faith didn't know precisely what it was, but she knew enough. It was what some of the after-school specials warned about; don't take illegal drugs.

Her mother had stopped taking the cocaine. She'd moved on. From the hushed, late-night phone conversations, Faith knew her mother had moved onto a new drug of choice. The thing didn't have a name, or at least not a name Faith recognized. It was a bunch of letters. Faith couldn't remember what it was called, but she knew it made her mother worse.

"Oh, I'm going to be sick!" Lara stumbled out of the bed and walked only a few steps across the floor before her legs gave out and she collapsed. Faith turned away as her mother vomited.

"Make it stop!" Lara got to her feet and stumbled backwards, "Get away, get away, get away. It's coming. Spinning, screaming!"

"Mom," Faith said, moving further into the room and grabbing her mother's arm, "you need to lie down. Just lie down and-"

"It's coming. Towels, need, now. Towels! Isabel!"

"What's coming, Mom," Faith asked as she coaxed her mother back onto the bed.

"The baby! It's comin' – fuck, make the colours stop dancing. I don't want to dance!"

Faith froze. The baby? Now?

Nine. Faith knew the special number was nine. The doctor said nine. They'd seen the doctor a few times, to get Dani better and because their mom was pregnant. Babies grew inside their moms for nine months before being born. Lara was only eight months pregnant. What happened if the baby came early?

"Isabel, make those cats stop howling! I can't hear anything over them!"

Faith was sure of only two things at the moment, the drugs her mother was taking were making her act far worse than normal, and she had no idea what to do about the baby.

Maybe Dani was right, she should call an ambulance.

While her mother continued to alternate screaming about the baby and about the non-existent cats, Faith slipped from the room. Down the hall and into the kitchen she ran, grabbing the phone. But as her fingers went to dial for help, she hesitated. There was no dial tone, the power was still out, but that wasn't what stopped her.

Faith knew that, even if the power wasn't down, calling 911 to get her mother help may not be a good idea. Her mother had the drugs hidden somewhere in the apartment, her and another man were selling it to other people. Faith was pretty sure that was a bad thing the police arrested people for.

And despite how bad their mother was, Faith didn't want her to be put in jail, didn't want to be taken away. Faith and her sister had no immediate family, no father, no grandparents, no aunts or uncles she knew of. Even though Lara only acted like a parent half the time, Faith had learned to live with her. She'd learned to take care of herself and Dani, and to keep their mother occupied. She'd learned to accept and work around Lara's behaviour and mood-swings. Lara was still her mother; Faith didn't want to be taken away and made to live in another home, didn't want to risk losing Dani.

Faith made her way back to the bedroom, completely and utterly terrified of what to do.

* * *

Two hours later found Lara passed out on the bed, bloody sheets surrounding her. Faith sat on the floor at the foot of the bed, the small baby wrapped in a towel in her arms.

Faith knew that babies were supposed to be born in hospitals, not at home. There were supposed to be doctors and nurses to take care of it. But that hadn't been available. Faith had stood ridged and scared as her mother screamed and screamed. There had been blood, lots and lots of blood. Lara had given birth to twins eight years ago, and she seemed to have some idea of what she was doing; but Faith was sure that having doctors would have made it better.

When her mother had pushed a final time, she'd collapsed back on the bed, slipped into a daze and mumbling about ducks and dancing furniture. Silently, Faith had taken the baby, a boy, and cleaned him off.

After that, Faith had sat down on the floor and just held the baby, unsure of what to do. The television shows she and her sister watched made it seem like babies cried loudly and constantly, but the little thing in her arms cried weakly for a few minutes before stopping. He had coughed a few times, and Faith was amazed at how even such a simple noise could sound so cute coming from such a small creature.

"You're so small," Faith had whispered. "Didn't know babies came so small."

His eyes were closed, but he had stopped crying, so Faith continued to speak to her small brother.

"I guess you kinda need a name. Mom is probably supposed to name you, but I don't want to wake her up. Lemme see…" Faith had thought for a few moments, trying to find the right name. Something that would sound nice when added to Daniela and Isabel when their mother yelled them.

"Peter," the young girl had whispered. "You can be Peter. Like Peter Pan, Dani likes that story. I… guess you need a middle name too, but Mom can do that, when she gets up."

The baby didn't protest at the name, so Faith figured he liked it. "You fell asleep pretty fast, y'know? Dani always takes a while to fall asleep. But you just… stopped crying and fell asleep. Do all babies do that?"

Peter didn't answer her.

"You are listening to me, right Peter?"

A chill started to creep up Faith's spine. Faith could always tell when Dani was asleep because her breathing would get heavier, and their mother whistled and mumbled in her sleep. Faith figured she did something similar.

But there were no noises coming from the baby in her arms.

Faith tried to speak, her voice catching in her throat. "P-Peter? Peter I know it's scary, but you can't leave. This… this is your family. Peter?"

The baby wasn't moving.

The baby wasn't breathing.

A single tear made its way down Faith's cheek. She hugged the bundle closer to her as the silent sobs began. Faith hadn't cried in a long time, it was something that aggravated Lara. But Faith was crying now, unable to stop herself. Her small frame shook noiselessly and she embraced the smaller lifeless one.

Her mother had done this. Faith knew it. From somewhere deep inside her Faith knew her mother was responsible. The cigarettes, the alcohol, the drugs, they were the reason Peter's body wasn't moving.

Faith sat like that for a long, long time. She didn't move when Dani's worried face appeared at the door the next morning, and she didn't move when her mother stumbled out of bed and staggered past her that afternoon. Lara didn't ask what had happened. She simply looked down and Faith and the baby, almost disapprovingly, and then left the room.


	30. Chapter 24

A/N:I'm still not completely satisfied with this one, but here you go.

**Chapter 24**

"…is minded in the deep, dark depths of their planet's oceans. Now, it's a mystery exactly as to how it works, and just how many uses it has, but we know that it has at least some sort of energy-field characteristics. Its main use is as their hydrostatic force fields to bubble their atmosphere, but during the war we also saw them use it as a protective field. And… are you even listening?"

_Nope. Not at all._

"Mmm," Willow nodded, "Protective force fields. Ocean. Totally listening, Andrew."

"Right," the man said sceptically. He turned back to Amanda, "Clearly not a primitive race."

"I… I didn't say they were primitive, Andrew. I just said that, because they don't live on-land, that they're isolated."

"You insinuated they're a barbaric species."

"No I didn't!"

"Just because they are isolated, young Amanda, doesn't mean they're barbaric."

"But I didn't say that! All I said was-"

Thankfully the conversation was halted there. Buffy walked into the kitchen, dressed in her workout clothes and ready to face the day. "Amanda, we're starting training in ten minutes. Go get ready."

The young girl gave an unhappy look to Andrew, "We'll finish this later." She said while leaving the room to join the other Potentials outside.

"What about the broken porch?" Andrew asked, splattering his bowl of cereal with milk. "Xander hasn't fixed it yet, has he?"

"We're going to work around it," she said, taking an orange out of the fruit bowl. "Um, why does my orange say 'Dawn' on it in black marker?"

"Because Dawnie wanted to claim the last one?" Willow offered, leaning against the bar.

The Slayer smirked, "Too bad for her." As she began peeling it she asked, "Have you seen Faith? We're supposed to start training the girls."

"I… I don't think she's up yet."

Buffy's sighed, "I told her to be up by ten. It's almost twenty after."

"The flying back and forth kinda messed with us."

Buffy looked pointedly at her, "You're up, aren't you?"

Willow raised her eyebrows in response, "Well," she smiled, "Faith is also kind of the 'sleep till noon' type."

"Now really isn't the time to encourage her sleeping habits."

"If you want someone to go wake her up," Andrew said, "I am not volunteering myself. I'd rather not have my face punched-in because someone isn't a morning person."

Willow made a big show of rolling her eyes, "I'll go."

"Don't just wake her up," Buffy called after her, "Make sure she actually gets up. I need her outside now."

The witch made her way up the stairs and down the hall to the bedroom she was now sharing with Faith. On her way she nearly bumped into Holly – or was this one Kelly? – who was scooting out of the bathroom.

"You know that-"

"Yes! I know, I know. Buffy wants us downstairs. I know. I'm going!" she insisted before bolting down the stairs.

_Right. I'm not even going to ask what Buffy threatens to do to them if they're late for her training sessions._

_I hope Faith doesn't get in trouble._

The redhead knocked twice on the door before gingerly opening it and stepping inside. Faith was laying face-down on the bed; dark locks a fountain around her head on the pillow. The sheets were pushed down to her waist, displaying the dark, thin tank top she was wearing.

_Please please please don't kill me for waking you up! I'm just the messenger._

Though, Andrew's right, I probably do have a better shot than he would. She'd bite his head off and then go back to sleep.

_Now the question is; how do I go about doing this?_

The witch quietly padded over to the bed and sat down on the edge. "Faith," she whispered. "Faith, you need to get up."

Faith didn't stir.

_Right. Because you so knew she'd wake up with you whispering at her._

_Shut up, I'm trying!_ She insisted to herself.

A little louder this time, "Faith. Faith you kind of need to get up now."

The Slayer shifted in her sleep but didn't wake.

Willow sighed. _Okay, one more try and then I'm just going to push her off the bed._

Placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder, Willow gently shook her sleeping companion, "Faith," she called, "Faith, time to get up."

"Urfmml," Faith said, rolling onto her side away from the redhead.

"Faith," Willow said loudly, "Faith just get up, please? I don't want to have to use force."

She shook the Slayer's shoulder again.

Faith growled in response.

"Come on," Willow laughed, "I know you're awake."

Faith growled again, "Leave it alone, Red. Sleeping."

"You need to get up. Buffy's on the train to pissed-off-town."

"Screw her."

"Faith, you have a training session in ten minutes. You need to get up. Buffy will be mad."

"Fuck her."

Willow snorted. Though the Slayer's responses were becoming more aggressive, her voice was indicating she was becoming more and more awake. "I'm just going to keep talking to you until you get up. You know I'm the Babble Queen, right? I can talk for hours if you let me."

Faith grumbled, rolling over and shoving against Willow. The redhead allowed herself to be pushed off the bed and stood smirking down at the brunette.

Faith finally opened her eyes, glancing up at Willow. "Why are you waking me up? I like sleep. Go away." She closed her eyes again.

Willow sighed heavily, exasperated, "Faith, you need to get up. You have a training session with the Potentials; you need to be out there. I volunteered to wake you up because I knew you'd be less inclined in your grouchy just-woken-up state to attack me, but if you don't get up for me soon I'm betting Buffy's going to come in here, holding a baseball bat with your name on it."

"Let her. I'll beat the bitch's ass," Faith replied, but she opened her eyes again and rolled onto her back, stretching her arms above her head.

"You getting up?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I was prepared to dump you on the floor."

"You know I would have killed you, right?"

"It would have gotten you up."

Faith grumbled. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten thirty. You told Buffy you'd be up half an hour ago."

"No," the Slayer corrected, still lounging on the bed in the process of waking up, "Told B I'd _think_ about getting up at ten, no guarantees. The wannabes already up?"

"Yeah, they're all outside and ready to face a new day of sparring."

Faith's eyes suddenly widened, she sat up and looked around the room, "Where's Dani?"

"Calm down," Willow laughed, walking away from the side of the bed to go and open the curtains, "She's with Dawn."

"Dawn? B's Dawn?"

"None other," Willow pulled the curtains apart, letting the late morning sun shine in. She heard Faith curse behind her at the bright light, "Dawn's taken to showing Dani around and introducing her to everyone. Don't worry, Dani really likes her. No meltdowns."

Willow turned around, and promptly had the air sucked out of her lungs.

Faith hadn't moved from where she had sat up in bed. She was leaning back on her hands, looking easily over at Willow. The early-morning rays from the now open curtain caught Faith's hair, which was what had made Willow gasp quietly to herself. The golden light framed the girl's dark tresses, making her look more than human.

_She looks so… so… so…_

_Kissable._

_I shouldn't be thinking that._

_And yet I'm still thinking it._

Willow was aware that Faith was looking at her questioningly as she slowly walked towards her, but she couldn't form a response. In that moment the sleepy Slayer looked breathtaking. Her face, without its heavy makeup, looked soft and inviting. Willow looked into Faith's dark, chocolaty eyes, seeing her own image reflecting in them. Her own eyes travelled down, tracing the brunette girl's full lips. Down to her collarbone and strong shoulders, only covered by the thin strap of the black tank top she was wearing. The dark colour accentuated Faith's olive skin-tone; her skin looked smooth and flawless.

Willow sat down on the bed again, her side barely touching Faith's legs under the covers.

The witch's eyes roamed down the rest of Faith's body, taking in only what the blankets allowed her to see. Her toned arms, her full breasts, her flat stomach; it was all enchanting for Willow. She tore her eyes away, forcing herself to look back up at the brunette's face. Faith had sat silently during Willow's appraisal; questioning the witch with her eyes.

Willow's hand twitched on the bread-spread, itching to reach out and touch the Slayer's skin.

"What?" Faith finally asked.

Willow shook her head, unable to answer. She felt herself growing warm taking in the beauty of Faith's form before her.

"Willow, what's w-"

Faith cut her question short when Willow's hand finally moved, reaching to touch the Slater's shoulder. The redhead felt a jolt when her skin met Faith's. She let it trace patterns on the brunette's shoulder, and then let it glide up, fingers lightly brushing the side of Faith's face. She touched the girl's lips, spellbound. Then her fingers moved further back, slowly moving to become tangled in the silky brown hair that framed Faith's face.

Willow couldn't resist any longer.

Her hand continuing to move through the Slayer's hair and she leaned forward, bringing her lips to meet Faith's.

Another spark of electricity shot through her whole body at the contact.

The kiss was feather light at first, her lips hardly brushing Faith's. But slowly she leaned in, letting her body take over. Her mind whirled as the kiss became more passionate. Willow felt Faith put a strong hand on her arm to pull her closer and shivered in response. Her body buzzed with electricity and her mind was in overdrive.

_I'm kissing Faith! _

Willow's fingers continued to tangle themselves in the Slayer's hair, pulling her closer and closer while Faith's hand caressed the redhead's arm. It slowly moved down Willow's side and came to rest on her hip for a moment before beginning to play with the hem of Willow's shirt. The witch's body was on fire everywhere Faith touched her.

_Oh my Goddess, I'm kissing Faith!_

_Wait, wait wait wait. I'm kissing Faith. _

_Faith, as in… oh God, I should not be kissing her, why am I kissing her, oh my God she is going to kill me, why am I kissing her, oh crap, stop, stop it right now, oh my God, why did I kiss her!_

Willow hastily pulled herself away from the kiss, immediately missing the contact with the brunette. Her face flushed as she suddenly became aware of what she'd one.

Her internal voice was crestfallen, _I kissed her._

She watched Faith's eyes blink open, looking a little dazed. Her chocolate orbs found Willow's, silently questioning them again.

_Stupid Willow, why did you do that, why did you kiss her, how could you do something like that, stupid, stupid, stupid witch._

_She's going to hate me. _

Faith opened her mouth to speak but Willow couldn't bear to listen, couldn't stand the thought of Faith getting angry with her and rejecting her. She knew it was the wrong thing to do, but she couldn't help it, she was too afraid of what was inevitably going to come.

So she bolted.

Her body protested immediately, feeling a sudden cold where it had touched Faith's warm skin seconds earlier. Her hands tingled and her stomach clenched, embarrassed, confused, frustrated, and angry with herself for getting carried away.

She got as far as halfway down the stairs before her legs suddenly gave out. The witch's body dropped heavily to the carpeted stairs, wishing and praying to whatever god or goddess was listening that she could just sink through the floor.

_Why did I do that?_

_How could I let myself do that?_

_I kissed her._

She moaned pitifully to herself, all too aware of how rash and impulsive and _completely unthinkable_ her actions had been.

_I kissed Faith. My lips touched Faith lips. There was kissage. Between my lips and Faith's lips._

_Why, Willow, why did you do that? This is going to complicate just about everything._

_She is going to come and personally make my life hell for doing that, isn't she?_

"Hey Wills, why so glum?"

The witch's head shot up, realizing Xander was standing at the bottom of the stairs look up curiously at her.

"Nothing!" She squeaked.

The man raised an eyebrow.

"Really," she insisted, "Everything's fine, perfectly fine, as perfectly fine as fine can be. Yes indeedie, nothing wrong here, all just wonderfully fine. Awesomely fine in fact. So fine its fine and dandy and fine-a-diddly and all those other words that would imply all is perfectly right in the world. Nothing at all cou-" she clamped a hand over her mouth.

_Oh, my God, just shoot me now. Put me out of my own misery, please._

Xander looked rather worried, "Uh… right. You sure you're okay Will?"

She nodded, hand still covering her mouth and preventing it from making her look any stupider.

"Did, uh, someone have too much coffee this morning?"

"Yep, that's it, you got it," she said, letting her hand fall lifelessly to her side and doing nothing to stop the babble from rising again; it had a mind of its own, "That's me alright, coffee addict. You know me too well, Xand. A bit too much and _whoosh_, I'm like crazy, spazzy, all over the place, insane-o gal."

Xander looked even more concerned.

"Willow?"

"I think I'm gonna go take a walk!" She said abruptly, leaping to her feet and practically skipping down the last few steps. "Help clear my head and get rid of the jitters. I'm all shaky from the caffeine."

And then she was out the door, hoping an out-of-control car or stray demon would put an end to her suffering.

_Why did I have to kiss her?_


	31. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Faith was a little dumbfounded.

She was still sitting in bed, sheets around her waist, early morning sun streaming in the window, with a complete and utterly confused look on her face.

_What the hell just happened?_

_What the _hell_ just happened?_

She glanced blankly around the room, hoping the answer would be inscribed somewhere on the walls. Or maybe sewn into the curtains. Or stained in the carpet. Faith stared out the window for a long moment, her brain still sluggishly trying to catch up with what her body knew had just happened. Her mind knew what had occurred, but was still stuck on the _why, how, _and_ what the hell_ parts of the equation.

She was very confused.

Vainly she tried reviewing what had happened moments ago. She'd been asleep. Then Willow had woken her up. Then Willow had opened the curtains. Then Willow had kissed her.

And then Willow had run out of the room.

_I'm not even tryin' to figure out why she left; I'm still stuck on the part where she kissed me._

_Did I get wasted last night?_

_Did _Willow _get wasted last night? _

_No. There was no alcohol. There was plane ride, Sunnydale, demon, house, Dani, sleep… kissing._

It hadn't been some little kiss either. The redhead had been staring at her with some weird amused look on her face, walked over like she owned the place, touched Faith's hair, and then kissed her.

Passionately.

Faith Lehane knew kissing. She was not ashamed to admit that a large part of her past had revolved around kissing people and slaying things. She was a passionate person. She lived in the moment. She liked having connections with people. Going out, slaying some vamps, dancing at The Bronze, finding a dance partner, dancing _really_ close, and usually hooking up with them was who she had been years ago in Sunnydale. Kissing had been a part of her life.

She had been darker then, craving the power of being able to the control the people around her. Getting a dance partner all wound up to the point where they were practically begging her to let things go further had given her a high. It was just… who she was back then.

Yeah, Buffy and the Super Friends had probably had some nice words to describe her back then; a tease, a slut, a player. And sure, she wasn't that person any more, but it had been a part of her. She'd been skating on thin ice then, about to break through into an ocean of darkness and pain any minute – which she had, after she'd killed Finch – but she wasn't ashamed of her past. It was a part of her.

She had grown up in passion and violence, and had lived most of her life that way. Trying to get through life as her mother manipulated her and did as she pleased. The sounds of her smashing plates had come hand in hand with the sounds of her having sex in the next room.

The point was: she knew passion.

And that had been one hell of a kiss.

_Willow and I kissed._

The front door slamming downstairs jolted the Slayer out of her slow and confused thoughts and back to reality; deciphering why the redhead had kissed her would have to wait. Buffy was downstairs waiting for her to show up so they could start training the kiddies, apparently very close to coming up at beating Faith to a pulp for oversleeping.

_Funny how I'm not in the mood for that right now._

Sighing to herself, Faith slipped out of bed and into a fresh change of clothes. A quick trip to the washroom and stop in the kitchen for something quick to eat later and she was ready to hit the weights with the junior Slayers.

Making her way outside, Faith found Robin helping Xander fix up the back porch. She waved half-heartedly at them, "Looking good, Patch."

Xander looked up, nodding a hello. "Once the bandage is gone, I'd like to request the nickname Scar. Patch makes me sound like a pirate."

"So a messed-up lion is your preferred alternative?"

"I was thinkin' more like Scarface."

Robin smirked, "Or we could go with Craterface, from Grease."

Xander glared at the other man, "Oh, because I'm so going with that."

"What was that movie, with the guy who wore the mask over his face?"

"Need more specifics than that, Faith."

Faith waved her hand casually, dismissing his comment. "He sang. Think it was a musical."

"The Phantom?" The principal suggested.

"Oh, I like that."

Robin looked appalled, "Dude, if you start going by The Phantom, I think I'll be forced to switch teams and join The First. That is not a good nickname."

"Well what do you suggest?"

"Definitely not The Phantom."

"Okay, fine… how about… Dr. Evil?"

"Are you evil? I thought you were a Scooby," Faith scoffed. "Aren't you all, 'save the world, heart of gold' crap?"

"Yeah, but all the good scarred people are villains."

"Twoface?"

"He has a scratch, Wood," Faith said, "He can't pull off Twoface."

"Jigsaw?" Xander offered.

"Dr. Doom?"

"Hellblazer?"

"Deadpool?"

"Deathstroke?"

"And now you're doing the comic book thing I can't join in," Robin laughed, shaking his head at them.

Faith was about to reply, but her Slayer senses tingled slightly. She turned easily, catching the stake that was thrown her way before it impacted the window. Buffy was standing a few feet away, arms crossed over her chest and glaring at her. "I'm thinkin' this is my cue to leave. Have fun with the porch. Robin, don't let him saw his hand off or anything. He's crippled enough as it is."

While the two men continued to try brainstorm nicknames for Xander, Faith made her way over to the blonde Slayer, who was leading the Potentials through a warm-up on the grass. There were so many of them, twenty teenage girls spread out on the lawn, all mirroring what Buffy was doing. It was more than a little creepy to watch.

Buffy huffed, "Nice of you to join us."

"Yeah," Faith replied, not really paying attention.

Buffy gave her a quizzical look before turning back to the girls, finishing off their warm up. Faith joined in, relieved that her body could follow along while her mind raced-on, a million miles away, as it got back on the track of analyzing the kiss.

_What the serious fucking hell happened this morning? _

_One, why did she kiss me? Not that I'm complainin', but a girl likes to know why she's being randomly kissed first thing in the morning._

_Two, why the fuck did she run out of the room? _

Her mind continued to circle back and forth between the two questions as she and her sister Slayer began the training session; leading the girls through blocks, hits, weaponry, and just about everything else in between.

_I just don't understand where it came from. I mean, I was half asleep. Why'd she kiss me? Yeah, I know Red plays for the other team now, so I guess it isn't out of character for her. And it's not like I'm a one-team girl, been with plenty of chicks to know a good time. But why'd she kiss _me_?_

_I mean, it's Red. We didn't exactly get along pre all that crap with Graduation. She was pretty fixated on playing the jealous best friend whenever me an' B went out slaying. _

_And yeah, sure, she's over it. Said as much in the car on the way here. And then coming with me to Boston, I figured something was happening._

_But I was assuming it was more like that girly best friend thing Willow seems to be so good at. Which was kind of nice, thinking of Willow and me as friends, even after what's happened between us. Hell, I was thinking I'm on the slow-crawling train to friends with most of the Scoobies._

_I may not've exactly done the 'oh my God we're best friends forever!' thing when I was younger, but I'm pretty sure friends don't make out with other friends._

_Unless they're friends with benefits._

_Which Red and I are very much not._

_Damn it and I was totally getting into it too. And then she just runs from the room._

_Who does that? Kiss and then run the other way? I'm thinkin' that isn't even normal behaviour for Willow._

The Slayer flopped down to lie on the grass, spent from her mind circling around and around over the same thought-track. Her eyes closed and she took a slow breath, trying to calm her mind down.

A shadow appeared over her, blocking the sun that had been shining on her face. She opened an eye. "B."

"Hey," Buffy said, joining her on the lawn.

Lifting her head, Faith looked around the backyard, noticing most of the girls were no longer training but lounging around the lawn in groups of two or three. "Uh… the drills finished?"

"After Kennedy accidently kicked Roslin in the head and Molly almost stabbed Caridad? Yeah. I told the girls to take a twenty minute brake. Not that you even noticed," Buffy said laughingly, rolling her eyes, "You've been standing here, staring into space, for the last ten minutes. I told them to just ignore you, because clearly you were not interested in training."

"Sorry about that."

Buffy seemed to think for a moment, "You… uh, you okay?" She asked tentatively.

Faith blew out a puff of air, "Five by five."

"Bull. Faith, I've never seen you stand there like a metal pole during a training session. When I was in school you used to beg me to skip class to go train with you."

A cheeky smile. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you were a big pain in the ass."

"Least I don't have a stick up my ass."

"I do not have a stick up my ass!"

"Nah, you just enjoy lookin' at my ass."

The blonde Slayer fumed. "I do _not_ stare your ass. Your ass has never crossed my mind, _dumbass_."

_Damn, I forgot how much fun it is to tease her. One innuendo and she totally loses it._

"And," Buffy continued, "It is just like you, to bring the conversation to asses."

"You started it."

Buffy shook her head and leaned back, looking up at the sky, "The point is; where have you been the past few hours. You're like a zombie."

"Sorry."

Buffy hesitated, "Did you want to talk about it?"

_B? Asking about _my_ problems? Has The First hired flying pigs? Has the sky fallen? _Out loud the brunette said, "Just a lot going on right now. I've been having… a crazy morning."

Buffy scoffed, "You overslept, got up, and then came out here. How much could have happened?"

Faith kept her face neutral, not giving the blonde any wiggle room to start jumping at strings and guess what was wrong.

_Not that she'd ever guess._

"Did something happen?" Buffy asked, suddenly looking serious.

"Yes. No. Fuck… I don't know. I honest to God don't know what happened."

"But something happened."

Faith cursed internally, forgetting how perceptive the other Slayer could be.

"And you clearly don't want to talk about it."

"No, I just… I'm still trying to figure it out myself." Faith knew she should stop talking at this point. If she kept giving in to Buffy's pestering, she knew she'd end up saying more than she wanted to.

Thankfully, the conversation was cut short when Anya's form appeared from in the kitchen doorway. "Faith," she called casually.

"Yo, whatup Blondie?"

Anya frowned at how she was addressed. "I've been told to inform you; your sister is having a psychotic meltdown in the living room."

Less than three seconds later Faith had made it across the lawn and into the house, flying right past the former demon into the living room, where she skidded to a stop next to where Dani was sitting on the floor, tears in her eyes and pulling at her hair in frustration.


	32. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

"…bag, next to the bed," Willow was saying. "Dawn, now!"

The young Summers girl nodded that she understood and then ran from the room, not bothering to ask Willow why it was so important she get this.

"What's wrong with her?" Andrew asked.

"She's having another vision," Willow said, who was currently kneeling on the floor next to Faith's sister.

"She didn't scream like that when we were in the car," the blonde man added.

"Not helping, Andrew. Anya, go get Faith," the witch instructed, not looking to see if her instructions were being followed. "It's okay Dani, it will be okay."

Daniela had been sitting on the couch with Dawn, listening while Anya was filling Willow in on everything she knew about Aperunguiculata demons, which wasn't a whole lot.

And then Dani had suddenly started screaming. Now she was on the floor, shaking and crying as her mind was violated with images Willow was fairly certain she didn't ever want to see. The brunette had her eyes tightly closed and was whimpering in pain as the vision progressed.

"No no no no no!"

"It's okay Dani, just-"

"They don't want to! Make it stop!"

"Shhh, shhh. It's okay," Willow soothed, gathering the shaking girl into her arms. Dani whimpered again but didn't protest at the contact; instead she leaned closer to Willow, taking comfort from the witch's touch. "What do you see?" She asked, trying to remember how Faith had acted back at the motel when Dani had had another frightening vision.

"Red," the girl wailed, "So much red. It fell over. It hurts."

"Don't cry, Dani. It will be okay." _Oh my Goddess I don't know what I'm doing. Where is-?_

"Dani!" Faith shouted, bursting into the room and dropping onto the floor next to her sister. "Dan, what's wrong?"

A fresh wave of tears started up for the younger twin as she pulled away from Willow to look at her sister, "They don't wanna go!"

"Who."

"All of them!"

"Hey," Faith said gently, rubbing her sister's arms, "Listen to me, we can't help them if you don't tell me what you see."

Willow sat back, leaning against the coffee table to let Faith take over. Glancing around the room, she could see most of the Scooby Gang watching silently. Giles, Anya and Andrew were standing off to one side, Buffy and Spike in the doorway. Dawn wasn't back from upstairs yet.

What made the witch thankful though, was that there were no peering eyes of the Potentials. Buffy must have told them to stay outside.

The redhead was very aware of just how close Faith was crouched next to her, tending to Dani. She could practically feel the heat coming of the Slayer she was so close to Willow.

_Now isn't the time for that! _

She hadn't spoken to Faith all day, expertly avoiding her after what had happened earlier that morning in her bedroom. Not that it had been all too difficult. Faith had been outside for the past few hours, working with Buffy and the Potentials. Still, Willow kept away. She knew Faith would want to know what happened, but Willow wasn't ready yet. She didn't want to have to admit to why she had kissed the Slayer. And she didn't want to deal with the angry Slayer's wrath once Faith found out.

_Are you even listening? Focus on what's going on!_

"Nice and easy," Faith was saying. "Just take a deep breath. Tell me what's there."

Daniela did as instructed, taking a deep, shuddering breath before speaking, "It fell over."

"What fell over, Dan?"

A sniffle. "The car."

"Who's car?"

Dani shook her head, not knowing the answer.

"What colour was it," Willow asked in a hushed voice.

"Like the leaves."

"Green," Faith clarified for the benefit of everyone else in the room. "Who was inside?"

The younger Lehane seemed to ponder how to answer this. "Like… like the other ones. Outside."

"The Potentials?" Buffy asked.

Dani looked away, towards the front door, but nodded at the blonde Slayer's remark. "Two of them."

"What happened to it?"

"He… h-he pushed the car over."

Willow felt her blood begin to run cold. "Who?" she asked.

"Scary man. Mean, mean eyes."

Faith's attention was still focused on her sister, but Buffy and Willow shared a look. Buffy mouthed "Caleb?" and Willow nodded gravely.

"Jack fell down and broke his crown," Dani continued, "and the girls fell down and died."

"Here!" Dawn said, leaping down the last few stairs and rushing into the room. "Found it. The bag was under the bed." She handed it to Faith, who pulled out the sketchbook and pencil, easing the items into her sister's hands. The trembling girl seemed to relax immediately, and began sketching what she was seeing inside her mind without instruction from Faith.

"Are they okay?" the brunette Slayer asked.

Dani moaned, "They hurt. It hurts. All over."

"Where are they now?" Willow asked.

"With the scary man," was the whispered reply.

"Where is that?"

"…Don't know. Too dark, can't see, don't know the place."

"Show us where he has them, Dani," Faith insisted, watching her sister's hand glide back and forth across the page. Her sister bobbed her head as a reply.

"Caleb," Buffy said flatly. "He has two of them somewhere. We have to find him."

"Give her a minute, B."

"How long," Giles asked, speaking up for the first time. "Does she know how long ago he captured them?"

"Dan?"

The girl whimpered again, "Don't know."

"Are they still alive?"

A nod. "Yes." Her hand continued to fly across the page, an image slowly beginning to form.

"Can you describe where they are Dani?" Faith asked, looking sadly at the sketchbook in the girls hands. Willow glanced down at it too; it looked vaguely like there were human forms in the middle of a big grey mess. Despite how talented Dani was, she was sketching exactly what she was seeing, which was a lot of darkness.

"Dark. Cold. It hurts, Faithie. They hurt. There's red everywhere. He wants red."

"The church?" Dawn offered.

Anya scoffed, "I thought you destroyed that."

"It's possible," Giles sighed.

"No," Buffy shook her head. "We checked it out. There's no one there. He can't have them in there. It has to be somewhere else. He's relocated."

A few stray tears trailed down Daniela's cheeks as she finished her drawing, passing it to her sister. Faith looked at it, analyzing it. Eventually she leaned back and passed it to Buffy. "I can't make anything of it."

Willow watched her friends face as she considered the sketch in her hands. Buffy winced at how graphic it was, Dani had apparently spared no detail in showing how much pain the captive Potentials were in, but didn't seemed to be able to make heads or tails of the background.

"It could be anywhere," she finally sighed. "A basement, a closet. A dark room in any building anywhere in town." She passed the book to Willow.

The redhead too winced at how detailed the image was. Two girls in their teens, hands tied to chains hanging from the ceiling, dangled helplessly. Although the image was in black and white, Willow knew the girls had been beaten and were covered in blood. She handed it to Giles. "Is there anything else you can tell us, Dani?"

Dani looked away, rubbing at her eyes like a small child. She bit her lip, trying to come up with something helpful. Eventually she offered sadly, "The bird won't make it."

Anya rolled her eyes, but was shushed by Dawn before she could comment.

"I have to agree with Buffy," Giles said, putting the sketchbook on the coffee table. "The background of the image could be anywhere. It doesn't offer any real insight as to where he has these girls. Perhaps there's something she's missing?"

"Where was the accident?" Buffy asked. When Dani didn't reply, Buffy prodded further, "Where did Caleb turn over the car?"

"Empty road. They were coming here."

The elder Slayer sighed in frustration. "This isn't working."

"It isn't her fault, B."

"I didn't say _she_ wasn't working. I said _this_ isn't working. We're living in a ghost town. Caleb could be-"

"Close the door!" Dani shrieked before burying her head in Faith's shoulder.

"It's okay, Dani," Willow insisted as she and everyone else glanced at the front door. "It's closed. No one's there. He can't get you here. You're safe with us."

"Hey, Dawn," Spike said as he casually picked up the discarded sketchbook. "What does that look like to you?" He asked, holding it up to the girl standing next to him and pointing to a certain part of the drawing.

"Uh…a rectangle with a smaller rectangle inside? Like… like a handle? A drawer maybe?"

"Or a filing cabinet?"

"Um, sure?"

"And this?" he insisted, pointing at another spot on the picture.

"Spike is this really necessary?" Giles asked. "If you know what's in the sketch, then tell us, we don't have time for games."

"Give a guy a minute, yeah? Dawn," he addressed Buffy's sister again. "What's this part look like."

Dawn glared at him but answered, "A bunch of lines stacked on top of each other."

"Like a stack of gym mats?"

Willow watched Dawn's eyes open wider for a moment, reconsidering the picture held before her. "Yeah, actually. Why…?"

"It's the school basement." Spike said simply, handing the picture back to Buffy.

"You sure?" Faith asked from the floor.

"Hey, I spent months living there with no company but myself and The First. Pretty sure I'd recognize the place. It's the west end of the basement, right near the… oh. Well, shit, that's not good."

Buffy swore too, causing everyone to look at her. "The seal. Damn it, he's going to open the seal."

"He's going to bleed the Potentials," Willow said, her blood boiling with anger. "He's going to use their blood to open the Seal of Danthaz again." _No. No, he can't do that. We're supposed to protect them! _

"But we closed that!"

"No," Buffy shook her head at Andrew's comment. "Any sacrifice would open it again. Giles," she said sharply, turning to her Watcher, "We can't let him open the seal again. We have to stop him."

"How, Buffy? The last time we staged an attack on Caleb-"

"I don't care about last time! This is this time! We have to stop him before he hurts those girls, before he opens the seal again. There's an army of übervamps inside the Hellmouth; we can't let him open it. We can't let The First have its army."

"Buffy, the Turok Han-"

"Buffy's right," Faith said, pulling away from where her sister was quietly crying next to her. "We can't let him hurt these girls. The Potentials are our responsibility. If Caleb unleashes that army we're fucked."

_Another fight with Caleb? _Willow thought, worried about the outcome. _The last one didn't go so well. If they go in again, someone could get really hurt. Buffy said it herself, Caleb is too strong. How can they fight him if he has more superpowers than the Slayers do?_

_But we can't just leave those girls there,_ she rationed, _helpless as he bleeds them to death to open the seal. _

"It's too dangerous," Giles insisted. "We have no idea when he's even going to perform the ritual. Buffy, if you and the girls go in, one of our girls' blood could open the seal just as easily as the girls' that he has captive. If one of them got hurt-"

"Giles, anybody's blood can open the seal, not just the Potentials!"

"Exactly, if-"

"And they aren't coming with us. Me, Spike, and Faith. In and out. Rescue these two girls before he hurts them anymore."

Faith had perked up at the sound of her name. "B's right, we can't let any of our girls get hurt. They aren't ready to fight Caleb again. It's too soon."

"Buffy," Dawn reasoned gently, "Are you sure the three of you will be enough? What if Caleb has backup?"

"You aren't fighters; I'm not putting any of you at risk unless I have to. The Potentials aren't ready. I can't afford to take anyone who isn't a real fighter-"

"Exactly," Xander said, he and Robin entering the room. "Buff, I've fought by your side for years. I-"

"You ain't coming Xand," Faith said grimly.

"Why not?"

"Xander, you nearly got your eye gouged out," Buffy said with forced laughter, "It hasn't healed yet. Something could come up behind you and-"

"It's healing fine Buff. If I take the bandage off-"

"No. I'm not risking getting anyone else hurt."

Willow knew she was going to get in trouble for what she said next, "They're right though, Buffy." The blonde Slayer whirled on her and Willow flinched back. "It's true. What if Caleb has more of his demons with him? The girls are injured; they'll have to be helped out. The three of you may not be enough if you get attacked."

_Please please please Buffy don't kill me. I'm just trying to help._

Looking away from the blonde's harsh stare, Willow sought out Faith's eyes. The brunette was looking at her calmly, trying to keep a neutral expression on her face.

_I wish I knew what she was thinking!_

_Damn it, Faith, stop looking at me like that!_

Robin spoke up, breaking the thick silence that had settled in the room. "Buffy, let me come with you. You three can't go alone. I know the layout of the school and-"

"Pfft, oh sure," Spike scoffed, "The Scoobies can't come. But let the murdering principal come along. He probably just wants another chance to-"

"Do you have a problem with-?"

"Stop it!" Buffy yelled. "Everyone just stop it! I can't think." Her hand went up, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Crap. Okay, fine. Robin, you come with us. But we are _not_ going in looking for a fight. This is a _rescue mission only!_ Everyone clear?"

"Crystal." Faith said. When the other Slayer glared at her, Faith added, "Sorry. Was that rhetorical?"

Willow was still lost in her own world, only half paying attention to what was going on. _Goddess all this needs to end. There is too much tension in this house. Everyone's snapping at each other. Or glaring at each other. Or trying to kill each other. Or not talking to each other. _

_Or kissing each other._

_Stop thinking about it!_

Trying to focus on the argument at hand, Willow looked around the room. _Why are we still yelling? _Her eyes landed on the far side of the room, where a group of four or five Potentials were standing. _And when the hell did they come in the room?_

"Yes we are!" Kennedy was in the middle of insisting to Buffy.

_They want part of the attack on Caleb, don't they?_

_Why is everyone to insistent on getting themselves killed?_

_Buffy looks about ready to explode._

"Kennedy! You aren't coming!"

"Why? Why can't we come?"

"Did no one hear me when I said I don't want to put anyone at risk unless it is _absolutely _necessary? Am I alone in the room right now? Kennedy, you are not coming."

"We can fight! We can help! We've been training with you for weeks now-!"

"_You've_ been trainin' for weeks now, Junior." Faith said harshly, "Some of you don't even know how hold a sword."

"So take the best fighters with you."

"Because that went so well last time," Anya scoffed. "In in case you're forgetting, one of you died last time you went up against Caleb."

"Was she talking to you, demon girl?" Rona asked.

Buffy threw her hands in the air. "Fine. Fine, you all want to tag along and get yourselves killed? Perfect. You, you and you," she said, pointing at the three closest Potential girls, one of whom squeaked in surprise. "Get ready. You're coming. No arguments." She turned back to the Scoobies, "And you three. We're leaving. Pick your weapons. Now."

Spike and Robin immediately followed the fuming blonde from the room.

"Wow." Andrew said.

Willow shot him a hard look. "She's under a lot of stress. We all are. She's doing the best she can."

On the far side of the room, another small argument had broken out among the teens.

"Kennedy! Look what you did! I don't want to go! I don't want to die!" Colleen was yelling, panic in her voice.

"We won't die. Buffy won't let us die." Minh said placidly. "If we follow orders we won't be harmed."

"Won't be harmed? That other girl died! She-"

"Colleen, shut up," Kennedy interrupted. "We're going. You heard Buffy. No arguments."

"I hate you. Your loving this, aren't you? God, I hate you!"

"Hey," Faith yelled, getting their attention. "It doesn't matter whose fault it is; you three sorry-assed girls are coming with us. Blame Kenn if you want, I don't give a fuck. But you're coming. The rest of you," she looked at the other Potentials in the room. "Scat."

"You okay?" Willow whispered. Faith blew out through her teeth and looked at Willow with a hardened expression, but didn't say anything in response.

Turning away from Willow she addressed her sister, "You be good, Dani. Stay with Dawn and Red. We'll be back soon." She hugged her sister and led three Potentials from the room.

_This isn't going to end well,_ Willow thought, watching Faith's retreating form with sad eyes.


	33. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

_This isn't going to end well_, Faith thought as she and Buffy led their little group across the field towards the high school. It was dark out by now, which, although making it easier for them to sneak up on the school, also made it easier for anything _else_ to sneak up on them.

The brunette Slayer had a strong sense of déjà vu as they grew closer and closer to the building. She hadn't been to Sunnydale High in years. It was different now, rebuilt and completely re-modeled, but it was still the same school that housed a gateway to hell.

Things had been really tense back at the house. So tense that she had opted to keeping her mouth shut during most of the confrontation, Scoobies against Buffy against Potentials. Buffy was right, they had to do what they could to stop Caleb; everyone needed to fall in line and deal with the decision. Buffy was in charge, Buffy was dedicated to getting them through this mess, Buffy was the one they needed to trust.

Though, bringing the Potentials along may have not been a stellar idea. Yeah, the brats were asking for it, but now it meant they had more bodies to look after if a fight broke out.

Once they'd left the house, however, and began the short trek to the high school, Buffy had made the plan very clear. They sneak inside. Get the two hostage girls out. If they're spotted, the Slayers, Spike and Robin were to jump into battle while Minh, Kenn and Colleen got the other two teens out as fast as possible.

"You're not to engage in the battle, not matter what happens," was how Buffy had put it.

Besides having to watch out for the girlies, Faith also had to keep an eye on Robin. Son of a Slayer, Buffy had said he was a damn good fighter. Faith, however, had yet to see the man in action.

After sneaking across the back field and along the side of the building, the group had positioned themselves so they were a nice distance away from the front doors of the school; the only ones known by Robin to be unlocked. Spike had suggested breaking a window, but both Faith and Buffy had declined. They were going to go for stealth for as long as they could.

"You see that?" Buffy asked, eyeing the doorway.

_More elephant demons? Really? Wasn't the one enough._

Robin squinted. "What is that?"

"Demon."

Kennedy rolled her eyes, as if Buffy's reply had been obvious. "Majorly strong demon. Like a giant warthog, with pinschers."

"I thought it kinda looked like a baby elephant," Faith offered.

"Quiet," Buffy hissed.

"How're we going to get past it?" Colleen asked, her eyes wide with worry.

"Piece of cake," Spike said, flicking out the cigarette he'd lit despite Buffy's disapproving look. He ground the ashes under his boot for a moment before vamping out and charging, screaming a stream of cusses at the demon.

Faith raised an eyebrow, "Interesting tactic."

Buffy just huffed, "Come on." She took off at a run for the front door while the demon was distracted with Spike.

_This _so_ isn't going to end well._

* * *

The Bringer continued to swipe at her, forcing Faith to edge further away and closer to the wall behind her. The damn eye-less freak had a knife in each hand. Both were already soiled with blood. Faith's short sword continued to clash against them, mixing with the other sounds of mayhem around her. The Slayer was doing her best, but hand-to-hand was much more her stronger suit.

The Preacher hadn't been expecting an attack, they could tell that much. Aside from a guard at the entrance into the school, there had been no other security as the group had snuck through the deserted halls.

A lifetime ago Faith had broken into her own high school once or twice, but never had it felt downright creepy and dangerous. Knowing there was an insane man in the basement sacrificing innocent girls in order to help bring on the Apocalypse? Not a fun image.

The group hadn't wasted any time in finding the basement, where Caleb was in the middle of taunting the two Potentials as he prepared to bleed them.

And he had turned a mighty shade of pissed off when Buffy shot an arrow into his arm. "Well now, look here; if it isn't the fearless leader, the harlot, and their band of merry men. Come to join the party?" His voice had darkened as he addressed his men, "Kill them."

It was that moment all hell had broken loose.

Five or six Bringers and about a dozen of some breed of demon Faith didn't recognize had come at them from all sides; the unknown demons were humanoid, dark in colour, and with two horns coming out of their heads. And a nasty stench that made rotting flesh smell like daises.

And, oddly like the Bringers and the warthog demon guarding the entrance to the school, without eyes. Well, without faces would be a more accurate description. The demons, which Spike and Robin were now tangoing with, had no facial features whatsoever. They looked like shadows.

It made Faith shiver just looking at them.

She felt the cold wall of the school against her back; the stupid Bringer she was fighting had backed her right up against the wall, trapping her. It leaned in, one of its blades going right for her throat.

The Slayer's short sword came up again, clanging as metal met metal. The Bringer's face sneered in anger. The look didn't last long however, because seconds later Faith had sliced the man's hand clean off.

"Might wanna get a bandage for that," she jeered as she shoved the man backward. He dropped his other knife as he tried to block her blow to his face.

Just as Faith was going for the game-winning hit something grabbed her from behind. The now one-handed Bringer scudded off as one of the faceless demons wrapped its thin, concrete-hard arms around her neck. Faith felt a chill run up her body at the contact. The demon was old, extremely old. Her Slayer senses were screaming inside her as the demon began starving her of air.

The chill turned into a paralyzing darkness as the creature's ancient power seeped inside her. This wasn't like any demon she'd ever faced before. This thing was_ wrong._ Pure darkness and fear.

Her body began to shake, from the dark power that was invading her super-human senses, not from the lack of oxygen. Although that too was beginning to become a problem.

Her mind screamed as the darkness crashed through her body, wave upon wave of its agonizing torture. Black spots began forming across her vision. Her struggling against the demon's grip weakened.

_Break the contact,_ the Slayer inside her whispered. _Don't let it touch you._

And then Faith _moved._ Letting the Slayer inside her completely take over, the brunette stayed on the sidelines as the demon inside her bucked her body backwards, vainly trying to shake the demon off. Its grip loosened, enough for Faith to gasp a deep breath.

_Oh, fuck, nasty._ She'd taken a lung-full of the demon's putrid stink.

The Slayer threw her weight backward, driving the demon hard into the wall behind her. She heard the plaster crack.

Then she spun, grabbing the sword from where it had fallen to the ground and driving it home in the demons belly in a blurred motion. It shrieked its ancient cry but Faith had already moved on to the next closest demon.

_Just don't touch it, kill it but don't fucking touch it_, she repeated over and over again as she attacked the other demon. Her Slayer senses were going insane with fury, and the brunette didn't hold back. Dive, kick, stab. Move on.

After the three demons closest to her had been disposed of, her short sword dripping with the black ichor of demon blood, Faith took a moment to look around as she caught her breath.

Kenn and the other two had safely gotten the captive girls out without getting hurt. They had done exactly as Buffy had instructed; wait for the fight to break out, get in, free the girls, get out. Faith hoped they were halfway back to the Summers' place by now.

Robin was off to her left; she could hear him holding off the few remaining Bringers. Spike, bleeding freely from one arm and in full vamp-mode, was dealing with the Aperwhatever demon that had followed him into the basement of the school after his initial distraction tactic.

And Buffy was still facing off with Caleb. Faith wanted to help her sister Slayer out, but there were still a number of the faceless demons to kill before she could think of helping the blonde.

Like the one about to attack Buffy from behind.

Faith charged, running the few feet to the other side of the area they were fighting in and tucking her feet in at the last moment, launching herself sword first into the demon before it got to the blonde Slayer.

She tackled it right to the ground, aware of all the places she was in contact with the demon's cold, black skin as she forced the sword further into its side. From the corner of her eye she could see another one coming up on her. Before it had even reached her Faith had her weapon out of the first demon and ready as the second came for her.

She smirked as the demon skewered itself on her blade. _This how B always fights? Knowing what the demon's gonna do before it does it?_

Picking herself up before the dying demon under her leached any of its darkness into her and made her freeze up again, Faith took a deep breath. She had no idea how long they'd been fighting beneath the school, but she could feel the exhaustion bubbling up, demanding she stop.

But she kept a level head, turning to find another demon to slice and dice.

"You know, you really are starting to become quite bothersome," Caleb said, approaching Faith where she stood catching her breath. Buffy was getting up off the floor from where Caleb had tossed her against the far wall. Faith saw one of the remaining demons move to attack the weakened blonde and took a step to go help her, but the preacher blocked her path.

"Now, now. Buffy dearest can handle herself fine for a moment. I'd like to have another chat with you, seeing as how our last one was… interrupted."

Faith tensed, "Fuck off." She again tried to go help the other Slayer but Caleb backhanded her across the face.

"Manners, little girl, manners. Our Lord doesn't take to girls with tongues like yours." He took a casual step towards her and Faith moved back, expecting another blow.

The preacher smirked at her retreat, "Ah. Not as confident in our attack, are we?"

"Go to hell."

"Now, now. We both know a man of _faith_ like me will not be headin' there. But you swee'pea, though your namesake invokes the glory of our God, will be welcomed there with open arms."

Faith gripped the sword in her hand tighter, seeking out a weak spot to strike him.

"As I told dear Buffy, fightin' back won't do you much good, will it?"

"Better than letting you walk all over me."

Caleb frowned, "This place, this school? It is just the beginning. My Lord, when at full power, will spread out over the land in a sweepin' wave of change. Why would you want to stop it?"

"Because 'Your Lord' is a disgusting motherfucker that needs to rot in hell."

"Really, Faith, is that any way to talk to dear old me?" A new voice asked.

_No._

Faith felt all the blood drain out of her face. She froze, unable to turn around and look at The First where it was standing behind her.

_No. No no no no no oh fucking God please no._

"Come on now, Faith. Let's turn around and have a look at you."

_No don't do it don't do it don't do it oh dear God no._

She started ahead, not letting her eyes leave Caleb. The First wasn't real, it couldn't touch her. The preacher in front of her could. She would _not_ turn around. It couldn't hurt her. She wasn't going to look-

It re-materialized, going from behind her to standing next to Caleb, who was smiling evilly at her.

"Well gosh, Faith. I think a "hello" might be a little more welcoming than the silent treatment, wouldn't you say?"

_Don't look. It isn't him. Don't look…_

But she gave in, letting her eyes move to The First, where it stood before her as Mayor Richard Wilkins III. Her heart tugged painfully. She knew it wasn't him, but it still hurt to see. He had believed in her, he had been there for her, he had been someone she trusted.

And now some blood-hungry ghost was wearing his face.

"You aren't him," she spat.

"It's fun to pretend though, isn't it?"

"Get the fuck out of here before I stab your little boy-toy."

"Now, now, Faith. Is that any way for my little firecracker-"

Faith screamed, drowning out the rest of its words as she threw herself at Caleb. Her fist connected with his face with a sickly crunch, but as she continued her motion and brought her other arm up to slice him with the sword the preacher caught her. Grabbing her by the hair, Caleb swung her around until she was in front of him, her back pressed against his chest. One hand tightly gripped her throat, the other gripping her sword hand.

Her eyes watered as he squeezed her wrist, his superhuman strength bruising the bone. Her fingers went slack, dropping the blade, and he caught it easily before it hit the ground.

"Well, this is a compromisin' situation, isn't it?" he laughed.

Faith growled deep in her throat, but he squeezed the hand around her neck harder, turning the noise into a whimper of pain before cutting it off completely.

"I will enjoy carving the flesh from your bones, whore."

Faith couldn't form a reply. His grip was so tight she was seeing stars. She could feel the skin under his fingers bruising.

_Why do they always choke me?_

The Slayer kicked a leg back, connecting with Caleb's shin. He tightened his grip further in response and her leg stilled immediately.

_Fuck. Come on, Faith. Do something. Get out of this. Don't die. That's the golden rule of Slaying; don't die._

"Drop her," Buffy's voice was like ice.

Faith's eyes immediately sought out the blonds. Buffy, her shirt ripped and covered in blood and dirt, stood facing Caleb. She had her own sword in one hand and a Bringer's knife in the other. Faith's eyes looked around the rest of the room. Robin, knife dug into the stomach of a Bringer, had stopped fighting to watch what was happening. She couldn't see Spike, but she could hear that he too had stopped whatever he was doing at Buffy's address.

Caleb chuckled at Buffy's request, "I'd much rather kill you both."

"I said, drop her."

"Drop her, kill her, kill you. It doesn't really matter the order. You will all die tonight." His grip tightened further for a moment before disappearing completely. Faith fell to her knees, wincing in pain as she sucked in some much needed air.

"Actually, I don't think any of us are going to die to night." Despite her banter, Buffy's voice was hard with anger.

"That's where you're wrong."

It happened in slow motion. Faith, on the floor by Caleb's feet, couldn't see what the preacher had done initially. What she could see was Buffy's face slowly contort to a look of horror as she glanced to her right.

Faith's eyes followed Buffy's, watching as the short sword that had been in Caleb's hand flew through the air, implanting itself into Robin's chest. The loud metal clang indicated it had gone right through and hit the ground behind him.

Robin was surprised, slowly looking down at the wound. His shirt began to stain crimson as the blood began to pour. He coughed, a low barking sound, as blood leaked out of the corners of his mouth. Then, still in slow motion, Faith watched his knees buckled as he fell to the ground.

Buffy's scream echoed through the basement, breaking the spell and causing the world around Faith to speed back up to real time. "Robin!"

"No!" Faith found herself screaming too, but for a completely different purpose.

Yes, she was concerned for the fact that the principal now had a gaping hole in his chest. Her main focus, however, was where the man had fallen to the floor. Robin now lay in a crumpled heap, bleeding to death right on top of the seal.

Buffy and Faith moved as one, flying over to the fallen man. Each grabbed an arm and began to drag him away from the gateway to inside the Hellmouth. They had only moved him a few feet when Faith was sent sputtering to one side, the force of Caleb's punch knocking her right off her feet.

Buffy dropped the dark-skinned man, turning to face the preacher once again.

Faith was all too aware of Robin's unmoving form lying next to her. She was about to reach out, see if he was still breathing, when a loud metal clanging caught her attention. Filled with fear, Faith turned to look at the Hellgate. The pointed ends of the seal were folding up and a bright light shone from a deep cavernous hole underneath.

_Oh shit._

Two withered hands reached out of the hole in the ground, grasping the sides and heaving the rest of the body out. Faith's eyes widened in horror as the creature's face became visible.

When Willow had first described the übervamp to Faith, the Slayer had pictured some hideous looking creature that still resembled a vampire. Something whose vamp-face was more disfigured than average.

The face of the creature climbing out of the hole in the ground was much, much worse than Faith had imagined. Grey, peeling skin, a horribly scarred face, and sharp, bloody teeth, the creature loomed forward as it drew its bulk out from inside the door to hell.

Its sunken-in eyes locked on Faith's, who felt like a deer caught in the headlights. She sat frozen, unable to move. She couldn't see or hear anything else around her; it was just her and the ancient Turok-Han.

Her Slayer senses screamed in protest at Faith's rigid state, shouting at her to move, to get away. She finally complied, crab-crawling backwards to get away from the creature as it sprang forward at her, easily clearing the distance between them.

_Oh Jesus fucking Christ ow ow ow fucking ow!_

Agony ripped through her body as the übervamp caught her calf, its claws digging into her flesh as if it were butter.

_Oh fucking God ow oh my God make it stop oh God I'm going to die it hurts so fucking much oh God oh God oh my fucking God!_

Faith cried out in pain. The demon's claws dug deeper inside, blood rushing out as waves of pain rolled through her body. She could practically feel its fingers wrapping around her muscle.

"_And their claws are strong enough to shred flesh, which none of us have had the pleasure of experiencing yet."_

_Fuck it, if I survive this I am going to kill Anya!_

The Slayer tried her best to roll over onto her stomach despite the white hot pain shooting through her injured calf, knowing if she could get her feet under her she could get away. It didn't work, so she kicked her good leg back and into the übervamp's face. It growled but didn't let go of her.

It was on all fours before her, its features stretched in a feral grin as it dragged Faith towards it by her leg. She cried out again, helpless and without a weapon to defend herself. She kicked once more, connecting with the beast's shoulder. It caught her foot with its free hand, its claws ripping into the leather of her boots. Then the demon continued to draw her closer to it.

Faith looked around in panic, trying to find something to use as a weapon. Unfortunately what her eyes landed on only further spurred the terror inside her. Three more of the ancient and ugly vampires had emerged from inside the seal, and more hands were reaching from inside to pull themselves out.

The übervamp looming over her snarled menacingly as it lunged for Faith's throat. The Slayer closed her eyes, panic taking over her body.

But the attack never happened. Faith opened her eyes at the sound of the vamp hitting the ground next to her, and saw a battle axe implanted in the back of its skull.

Kennedy stood before her grinning madly. She was standing on top of the seal, her weight on the metal door having forced the seal closed and cutting off the arms of the übervamps reaching out from below. The three nearest vamps were on the ground in various stages of getting up, the swing of Kennedy's axe having knocked them out of her way so she could get to Faith.

Faith blinked, her body was still rigid with panic and unable to grasp what had just happened.

Kennedy seemed to be able to sense this. "Come on," she yelled, reaching down to drag Faith to her feet. Faith numbly let herself be pulled up; collapsing into the smaller brunette's arms helplessly as her weight suddenly came down on her injured leg. She bit back the scream and feeling of nausea as Kennedy dragged her away from the now-closed seal. It hurt. It hurt so much it felt like she was dying. It was all the physical pain she had ever experienced in her life squeezed into one unbearable moment.

Wave after wave of pain rolled through Faith. She fought through it, clinging to Kennedy as they made their way away from the bloody scene around them. She could see Buffy and Spike up ahead, almost at the stairs that lead out of the basement. Faith didn't dare to look over her should to see what had become of Caleb, the Bringers or the other demons behind them. Instead, she simply focused on not passing out until they were out of the school and away from danger.


	34. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

The sound of a car tearing up the deserted Revello drive jerked Willow out of her slumber. She'd been dozing on the couch, watching Dawn and Laurel, the newest Potential girl, teach Dani how to play cards.

Willow turned to look behind her out the large window, squinting in the dark light.

"Are they back?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, they…" she let her sentence hang in mid-air, watching the large van Robin had scored them draw closer to the house. The driver turned too early, causing the vehicle to drive up the curb and partially onto the grass instead of fully on the drive way.

"Willow?"

"Something's wrong," the witch replied, jumping up from the couch and running to the front door. Stepping out onto the porch, Willow felt almost all the life drain out of her when she saw the state of the people exiting the van.

A bloodied Spike leaped out of the driver's side of the van and ran around to the front passenger door, helping Buffy emerge. Willow winced at her friend when she came into view; Buffy's shoulder was ripped open, almost to the bone. Buffy's shirt was spoiled with blood and she was leaning on Spike for support as she cradled her arm to her chest. The door behind Buffy's, the one not in Willow's direct line of vision, opened, and a few seconds later Willow saw Minh and Colleen, both visibly unharmed, helping two girls up the driveway. The unknown Potentials' clothes were ripped and dirty and their faces and arms looked bruised and beaten.

The door in her direct line of vision opened and Kennedy hopped out, a grim look on her face. She reached back inside, gingerly helping Faith out of the car. Willow immediately honed in on the way Faith was heavily leaning on Kennedy for support, not letting one of her feet touch the ground.

And then Willow saw why, and felt her stomach literally drop from inside her body.

The brunette Slayer's jeans hung in tatters around her calf, covered in both dried and fresh blood stains among the ripped and angry-looking flesh.

Hearing a few of the people inside crowd around the door behind her, Willow slid into action. She ran down the porch steps to Faith's other side, helping Kennedy get her inside the house. Giles and Xander had followed her outside to help the others, and Anya was shooing away the Potentials at the door to let everyone get by.

"Dawn, keep Dani back," Willow instructed as she and Kennedy got Faith inside the house. The Slayer was biting her lip tersely in order to keep from voicing her pain.

"Faith?" Willow asked gently, beginning to lead the injured girl into the dining room where Anya and Andrew were now getting out the medic kits.

"No," Faith grunted. "I'm fine. Help the girls first."

"But Faith-"

"I've got Slayer healing, they don't."

"Faith, you look like you're about to pass out," Kennedy commented.

"Here," Xander said, stepping in the doorway, "Let's get her upstairs so she can lie down."

Faith complied, allowing Kennedy and Xander to help her up the stairs. Willow desperately wanted to follow, but knew Faith was right; the injured Potentials needed tending to first.

"Don't worry," Amanda was saying to one of the new girls, who was sitting at the dining room table while Anya cleaned her wounds, "It's over now. You're safe here."

"That man…"

"He can't hurt you here," Anya said. "Let me see your hand." The girl complied. Aside from a few cuts, she and the other one Giles was looking at didn't appear to be seriously hurt; no gaping wounds or protruding bones. Willow figured their real injuries would be the psychological ones inflected by being held captive by Caleb. The ones that wouldn't heal after years and years of a long and healthy life. If they were so lucky.

Spike and Buffy were the last inside. "Buffy, your shoulder," Willow said upon seeing her.

"Present from Caleb," she winced, leaning in the doorframe of the dining room. "It's not that bad." She shrugged her jacket off in order for Willow to get better access at the wound.

"You were gone a considerable length of time, Buffy," Giles said, smoothing a bandage over one of the injured girl's arms. "Was he expecting an attack?"

"No, he didn't know we were going in tonight."

"He just had plenty of backup," Spike said.

"And you two," Anya said, addressing Colleen and Minh, "Are either of you hurt as well?"

Minh shook her head, "No. We just got the other two out. We weren't part of the fight." Colleen nodded in agreement, but Willow could see the brunette was shaking slightly, having not yet calmed down.

"Where… where's Principal Wood?" Dawn asked from the doorway into the kitchen, where she was standing with Dani, who was looking wide-eyed at everyone in the room.

Buffy shook her head, "He didn't make it. Caleb… Caleb stabbed him."

"No," Willow whispered, stepping back. "He… he didn't. He…"

But the look on Buffy's face told Willow that Robin would not be coming back.

"And the seal?" Giles asked.

"They – ow!" Willow had finished wrapping her shoulder and was tying the bandage. "They got it open…"

"The little brat closed it," Spike said, nodding towards the stairs. "Kennedy."

"How many übervamps escaped?" Anya asked.

"At least four before Kennedy jumped on the door and closed it," the blonde vampire continued. "She wacked one pretty hard with an axe, don't know if it's dead though."

Giles frowned at the news, "And Caleb?"

"I…" Buffy tried, "I don't…"

"Still alive when we were leaving," Spike offered. He looked at the Slayer, "You passed out for a few seconds."

Buffy sighed then looked at the redhead, "Willow, we need a magical barrier of some kind."

"You… you mean like a ward?"

"The übervamps can get inside without an invitation. They didn't follow us out of the school, but we need a perimeter set up, just to be sure they don't try anything."

Willow felt all the eyes in the room land on her. "Uh… okay."

"I know you can do this, Will. Get a barrier set up and then go check on how they're doing upstairs with Faith."

Willow nodded, knowing Buffy didn't realize just how much she wanted to go and make sure the other Slayer was okay. But her friend was right; a ward of some kind would be a good idea. If the übervamps – or anything else The First sent at them – tried to attack the house, a ward would at least hold them off long enough for everyone inside the house to prepare for an attack.

Stealing from the room and out to the back porch where it was quiet, Willow took a few calming breaths. When she felt her breathing slow down and her heart stop racing with worry, she concentrated, looking inside herself like she had done last night.

The magical lake inside her that was her reservoir of power was in its usual restless state, churning and crashing angrily with untapped power. The magic had more red in it today as she watched the colours stir around her, reflecting how nervous she was. Last time it had been instinct to help Faith fight off the demon, and back in L.A. she had known everyone was counting on her. Now, her nerves were getting to her, very aware that many of the people in the house doubted her power – or doubted her control of her power.

As she focused on drawing some of her magic she envisioned the Summers' house. When the image was clear and focused, she pictured dropping a sheer blanket over it as she stretched out her power, allowing it to envelop the household, using the fence and front sidewalk as a guide for how far to stretch out her warding. Once the barrier was laid, she focused on strengthening it. It would have to be strong enough to keep any attackers at bay long enough to buy everyone inside some time.

The witch wasn't sure how long she stayed outside, layering the ward with her power, but when she felt herself growing lightheaded she pulled back. Blinking her eyes open Willow peered into the darkness of the backyard. She could see a faint shimmer of her magic, letting her know the barrier had worked.

_Now the question is, how long will it last?_

_Know what? Let's be positive. How about, how long won't it last?_

_Willow, you are pathetic._

She entered the house again, detouring around the goings-on in the dining room and made her way upstairs to check on a certain brunette Slayer.

Stopping outside her open bedroom door, Willow was met with an amusing sight. Faith was reclining back on the bedspread, Kennedy standing off to the side criticizing as Xander finished patching up Faith's leg.

Willow was rather glad she didn't have to see what state the Slayer's calf had been in, seeing the shredded material of her jeans had been enough.

"Just let me tie it."

"No, no, I got it."

"You can't see anything with that bandage on your face."

"I can see just fine, thank you."

"I'm watching you fail at this Xand; you can't tie that with a bandage over one eye. Look at you, you missed again."

"I'm doing just fine."

"You have no depth perception."

"Can both of you just shut up? Kenn, just let the man tie the bandage."

"That's my point. He can't tie it when he can't see what he's doing."

"Would you like me to slice up your face and see how you fair?"

"Oh come on Xander, your face isn't sliced. You have a nasty gash. Get over it."

Faith groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes as the other two in the room continued to bicker over the status of Xander's bandaged face. Willow decided to put the Slayer out of her misery and stepped into the room, making her presence known.

"How's it look?" she asked.

"Hey Wills. Faith here seems to have a nasty case of shredded flesh syndrome. And Kennedy's just being a pain."

The redhead laughed, "No surprise there."

"Watch it," Kennedy growled, "If it wasn't for me, your girl would have a lot more than just a ripped up leg."

_My girl?_

_What did she mean?_

_She's joking, right?_

_It's just an expression._

_That didn't mean anything, did it?_

_Oh Goddess, did Faith say something to her?!_

_No, she wouldn't do that._

_Would she?_

_Why would she say something?_

_She looked kind of... - confused? pissed? – earlier tonight when Dani was having her vision. _

_Although that's probably just because I avoided her all day._

_But I mean, what was I supposed to do? Walk up to her and say, "Hey, Faith. Sorry about this morning. I'm just having this school-girl crush on you, and, well, you know how it is. Sometimes you just look so sexy and kissable, could you really expect me _not_ to act on it?"_

_Oh, yeah. That would go over wonderfully._

"I said, Earth to Willow."

"Huh?"

"You okay there, Rosenberg?" Xander asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

She swatted him away. "Fine. Buffy asked me to put up a magical ward around the house; it made my head a little woozie."

"Join the club," Kennedy grinned, nodding towards Faith, "You aren't the only one with a headache."

"Ass," Faith replied, "You'd have a nasty headache too if your muscle was ripped to pieces by some nasty-as-hell demon. My whole body feels like a hippo's using me as a fucking dance floor."

The Potential just laughed, "Language, language, Faith. House full of innocent little girls, wouldn't want one of us to pick up on your bad habits."

Faith chucked a pillow at her.

"Come on Xander, let's leave the head cases alone so they can mope in peace."

It only took seconds for Willow to become very aware of how alone she and Faith were once the door closed. Faith was back in her original position, lying on the bed with an arm draped over her eyes. Willow stood still a moment, eyes flicking over Faith's form as she grew more and more nervous.

Then she abruptly looked away, not wanting Faith to catch her, well, looking at her.

Faith sighed loudly, "You just gonna stand there?"

"Uh… well, I…"

Sighing again, the brunette heaved herself back, wincing audibly as she pulled herself from the center to one side of the bed. Willow sat down in the free space gently, careful not to jostle Faith's injured leg. "How much does it hurt?"

"Like a bitch," she blew out through her teeth, "It'll heal. Same story can't be said about those Potentials."

"Oh?"

"They were captured and beaten by an insane preacher, Red. God knows how much therapy they'll need when this is all over. If they make it out alive."

"You shouldn't talk like that Faith, it isn't your fault. We didn't know Caleb had them held hostage until it was too late."

"Should have known it though," the brunette replied, staring daggers at the ceiling.

"Faith, you can't blame yourself. And they're alive. A little bruised, but they're alive."

"Tell that to Robin."

_Ah. So that's what the pissy mood is about._

"Faith, you didn't-"

"You weren't there Willow," the Slayer interrupted, balling her hands into fists. "It was… Shit, I froze up like one of the new girls. He was just there and I couldn't tune him out. I knew it wasn't him but I still let him get to me."

_What? Wait, she… she what?_

"What? You knew Robin wasn't-?"

"Not Robin."

"Then who…?"

"Wilkins."

Willow sat very still, looking down at the reclined Slayer. She tried to keep her expression neutral, but it was hard with her head whirling as much as it was.

_She saw the Mayor?_

_The First. It took on the Mayor's form._

_That's the second time she's seen it._

_And it came to her as the Mayor._

_Oh._

_Not good._

"Faith?" she asked tentatively. The old mayor of Sunnydale was definitely a delicate subject. Willow wasn't sure exactly how to vocalize what she was feeling, unsure if she would set the other girl off.

Faith didn't notice. "God, it was so real. _He _was so real. Everything. I knew it wasn't him, but I still…" she turned from looking at the ceiling to looking at Willow. "Wilkins… he meant somethin', you know? Fuck, yeah, he was twisted and evil, but he still…"

"He cared about you." She said gently.

"He was one of the few adults in my life to _actually do that_. M-my first Watcher… and him. Everyone else just watched me self-destruct."

Hesitantly, Willow reached out a hand, hyperaware of her companion's body language should contact not be a good thing and the Slayer lashed out. The redhead's fingertips brushed Faith's arm lightly, offering a small comfort. "None of us can control what form The First takes when it visits us," Willow winced, remembering her own experience with the demon when it took on the form of Cassie Newton, a student at Sunnydale High School, and tried to convince Willow she was too dangerous and should kill herself to save everyone else. "It's hard to remember that it isn't them, to not get caught up in the illusion."

"If I hadn't let him get to me, if I had just stabbed Caleb then he wouldn't have thrown the knife at Robin. And Robin wouldn't be dead and the seal wouldn't have opened. God fucking damn it; he's dead because of me."

"Robin knew the risks going in. I-I know that doesn't make you feel any better, but he knew what he was getting into. He wouldn't blame you for what happened."

The Slayer sat up abruptly, directing all her anger at Willow, "Exactly! He wouldn't blame me. No one in this fucking house is going to blame me! I took another life, Red, and nobody seems to care!" her voice died on her last words, leaving them hanging in the air.

Willow forced her voice to stay calm, "You didn't kill him, Faith. You're not the one who stabbed him."

"I may've well have."

The witch shook her head, "It doesn't work like that. Faith, you can't let it eat you up inside. I know, remember? I've been there and I know what it's like watching someone's life leave their body and not being able to save them. But you have to accept it and move on. You told me that."

Willow sighed quietly to herself, waiting for Faith to reply.


	35. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

"It doesn't work like that," Faith watched as Willow shook her head insistently, "Faith, you can't let it eat you up inside. I know, remember? I've been there and I know what it's like watching someone's life leave their body and not being able to save them."

_Fuck!_ Faith thought angrily, _I know she's been through shit. Damn it, now it's my fault she's thinking about her own screwed up past. I can't win._

Faith was in the process of turning her head away, not wanting to push Willow any further, when the redhead added, "But you have to except it and move on. You told me that."

Faith sighed to herself.

_Well that was a low blow._

_Damn it, how am I supposed to wallow in self-pity when she goes and says something meaningful like that?_

Faith looked at the witch, really looked at her. All of Willow's attention was focused on her, her Resolve Face slowly turning into a hopeful smile as she awaited the Slayer's reply. She looked tired, probably stressed from the last few hours of waiting at the house during the Hellmouth battle and then doing the warding spell she'd mentioned. Her red hair hung lightly around her face, and her eyes sparkled with determination. Her hands were in her lap, having stopped brushing Faith's skin when the brunette had sat up in frustration moments before.

"What happened this morning?" Faith asked abruptly, wanting to change the topic of conversation before she grew even more frustrated with herself about what happened, deciding to try to get some clarity on what had happened between her and the witch.

The smallest smile pulled at Faith's lips as she watched Willow blink in surprise, trying to follow the jump in the conversation. "I… w-what?" she stammered.

"What happened this morning?" Faith repeated herself, voice calm but curious.

"Um… I…" Willow was managing to look thrown, flushed, and shy all at the same time. Her eyebrows knitted together as she continued to try to come up with an answer. "Well, we, um… it was kind of… I…"

Faith tried to keep her demeanour as relaxed as possible, easily able to see how nervous the other girl was with the topic, "I mean, it was one hell of a way to greet the morning. But… kinda threw me."

"Right," Willow nodded, "Right, well, see… it just… it just kind of happened."

"Red, I'm not accusing you of anything. I just want to know _what_ exactly happened."

_And here comes the babble._

"I… I-I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry. It just… it just happened and I couldn't really stop it once it started. And I mean, why would I want to stop what was happened because I was very much enjoying what was happening."

Faith smirked as Willow opened her eyes wide with shock, "Oh Goddess, I didn't mean it like that."

_Course you didn't._

"I just mean that," the redhead continued, looking worried, "With the lips… and the kissing… and okay, stopping now. I'm sorry. I completely crossed the line and was totally out of bounds. I was so out of bounds they don't even have a word for it. I was just, whoosh, a foul or offside or whatever it is when you do something wrong when you're playing sports."

_What? Oh my God, I need to stop her before she hurts herself._

"I really didn't mean to do it, I'm sorry if-umprf-"

_There. That's one way to stop the Willow-babble._

Faith smiled to herself as she kissed the witch, enjoying the feel of her skin against the other girl's. Given, this would probably just make the problem worse, but at least Willow had stopped talking.

Yet almost as suddenly as Faith had started the kiss, Willow stopped it. She pulled away hastily and gently pushing back on Faith's shoulders, looking even more flushed and before. "I…" Her fingers touched her lips lightly, as if trying to confirm that what she thought had just happened had in fact just happened.

_Damn it, I just made it worse didn't I?_

"I wasn't expecting that. Why…" Willow looked so confused it was bordering on upset, "why did you…?"

Faith shrugged slightly, "Not really sure. It just kind of seemed like a good idea."

"A good…? No, no that was not a good idea. That was very much not a good idea. Why, why would you…? I mean, with the, and then the, and how? How? Why would… I don't…"

The Slayer was beginning to grow a little concerned for the state of the redhead. Now Willow was babbling fragments instead of whole sentences. She looked really baffled.

"Red, I-"

Willow held up her hand, indicating she wanted a moment to think. Faith waited. After a few beats of silence, where the brunette suddenly found herself growing uncomfortable, afraid of just how much worse she'd made the situation, Willow spoke up again. "Are… are you mad that I kissed you this morning?"

The Slayer's answer was immediate. "No," she stated, shaking her head in confusion.

"Please, Faith. Honestly, did I offend you when I kissed you?"

"How would that-" she started, but halted when she caught the other girl's glare. "No. Honestly, Red."

Willow nodded. "And… and just now… you… you kissed me."

"Yes."

The witch looked like she was going to say more, but she closed her mouth and looked down at her hands.

_Um… okay. I thought we were getting somewhere. Why'd she clam-up?_

"Red?" she asked, "Willow, look at me."

Willow's head bobbed back up for a second before she dropped it again, but it was enough time for Faith to notice the slight shimmer in her eyes.

_Oh shit, I made her cry. What the hell, Lehane? What is your problem? Clearly kissing her a second time was not the right thing to do!_

_Okay, okay, calm down. Make this better. You have to make this better before the tears start because hell if I know how to deal with tears._

Faith confidently reached out a hand, laying it on the redhead's tightly grasped ones in her lap. "Willow, I'm not mad that you kissed me this morning. A little confused, but I'm not mad. What I really want to know is why you ran out of the room like a bat out of hell." _Am I really that bad a kisser?_

_Ha. No way._

_Not helping._

Willow's thumbs traced over Faith's knuckles but she didn't look up as she answered, "I… panicked."

"So I noticed. Why'd you panic?"

"I got scared."

Faith sighed, _I thought that was implied._ "Why'd you get scared?" she tried again.

"I… I don't know… I just… freaked out a bit. I-I know, not the best reaction. But I was… overwhelmed."

_Now that sounds more like it, kissin' me overwhelmed her. I'm good._

_Are you _trying_ to make this worse?_

Willow continued, "I was just… looking at you, a-and… and you looked so… kissable."

_Kissable? When the hell in my life have I ever looked kissable? Sexy as hell maybe, but kissable?_

_Christ, it's like my mind has no filter. Right, let's try this again; focus on her not how hot you look, dumbass._

"I looked _kissable_?"

The redhead giggled, finally keeping eye-contact with Faith, "Yeah. Really cute and all… kissable."

_Cute? This chick is going to kill me._

"Any particular reason why?"

Willow shook her head, stilling her movements of brushing Faith's skin with her fingertips, "No, you just… with the sun and the light and stuff, you looked really pretty."

_I… I what?_

"I what?" the Slayer asked slowly.

Willow ducked her head down, letting her hair fall in front of her face. "You looked really pretty," she whispered, "It… it doesn't have to be a bad thing."

_I honest to fucking God have no idea how to respond to this._

_Pretty._

_Not a word I thought I'd _ever_ hear someone say about me._

_I'm really at a loss right now._

"F-Faith?" the redhead asked timidly, breaking the silence.

"I'm okay," the Slayer answered, "Just a little thrown."

"Faith?"

The tone of the question caught Faith's attention. "Yeah?" she asked, studying the redhead. She didn't look scared anymore, only… uncertain. Like she had something on her mind but wasn't sure if she should say anything or not.

"C-can I say something?"

"Technically you already are."

The witch pouted.

"Go ahead," Faith laughed, "I won't interrupt."

Faith wasn't sure if it was subconscious or not, but Willow's hands started playing with her own again, gently massaging them as she began to speak. "I… I don't exactly know what's happening. With me. With us. But," her words, starting off slow were beginning to speed up as she rushed the rest of her thoughts out before she lost her nerve, "But I know that I like being with you. I trust you and I feel calm around you and sometimes just hearing you laugh makes my head spin. A-and there is a point to this, I promise. I-I really like being around you and I don't know if you feel it too, but I feel something when I'm with you. I… I feel safe whenever you're around. And… and would it be okay if I kissed you again?"

It took a moment for Faith's brain to catch up with the redhead's confession. It stirred something inside her. Something unhappy. Hearing Willow's words, it made Faith anxious. She felt her chest tighten in an unpleasant way when it donned on her what the other girl's words might actually mean.

Faith wasn't like that. She didn't let herself get close to people in such an intimate way. Sex was one thing, but actually letting herself get close to someone in any way – even in friendship – it always ended badly. Faith had grown up knowing that there were very few people in the world she could trust wholly. And even those she did trust ended up betraying her in some way.

The possibility of what Willow was insinuating… that she might have feelings for–

"Faith?"

But Willow hadn't been explicit, had she? She hadn't labelled anything.

And, Faith realized, the little witch was right. Despite how anxious the Slayer became just _thinking_ about opening herself up to anyone, she felt like she could trust Willow. Willow felt safe.

She looked intently at the redhead. Willow looked like she was about to have a heart attack; her eyes were wide with fright and she was biting her lip. Her eyes looked glossy again, like she might begin to cry at any moment.

And Faith realized just how much Willow had put herself out on the line admitting what she had.

_Christ, how long did I keep her waiting? She probably thinks she overdid it._

Willow sighed quietly dejectedly to herself. The sound was so soft Faith wouldn't have heard it without her Slayer hearing. Smiling sadly, Willow turned away and began to move off the bed.

Reaching out, Faith caught the other girl's wrist. The redhead met her eyes, looking like a puppy waiting to be punished.

"Yeah," Faith smirked, "I think that'd be okay."


	36. December 2, 1994

_**December 2, 1994 **_

On any other occasion, Faith would have found it amusing to find her and her sister dressed the same. Though they were identical the two rarely dressed in similar clothes, with Dani preferring dresses and Faith enjoying jeans.

Today Faith was the one suffering, joining her sister in the realm of dresses.

They both wore black dresses, with shiny black shoes and clean white stockings. Dani still had the black bow tied in her hair; Faith had pulled hers out the moment the Social Services woman, Brenda, hadn't been looking. She was a twelve year old girl, not a Barbie doll.

Brenda had been the one who had dressed them up, driven them to the church, sat with them in the front pew, and stood with them as the box was lowered. She had then loaded the girls into her car and driven them back to the small government building she worked at, where Dani and Faith had been instructed to sit on one of the benches in the back room and wait quietly.

After three minutes of Dani loudly banging her feet against the bench in boredom Faith had gotten the girl's sketchbook and pencil out of one of the bags leaning against the wall next to the plastic plant. A plastic plant that, to Faith, still managed to look wilted.

Dani hadn't been in the mood to draw anything, instead she had set about colouring the whole page black.

Sometime later Brenda had entered the room again. Brenda was an older woman, with a beak-like nose, grey-blonde hair, and a pinched expression. Faith had tried very hard not to grimace whenever Brenda smiled at them, because it kept looking like she was sucking on a lemon.

"Isabel, Daniela, this is Mrs. Slide."

Both girls looked up at the woman who followed Brenda into the small room. The first word that came to Faith's mind when looking at this woman was tired. She had messy, flat, brown hair, dull brown eyes, a faded coat, scuffed up shoes and a bland expression on her face.

"Girls, Mrs. Slide will be your new foster parent. Everything has been arranged, Mrs. Slide will be taking you to your new home now."

This had already been explained to the twins. Brenda had sat them down and explained how, now that their mother was dead, they would be living with a new family, seeing as how Lara hadn't had any living relatives or a record of who their father had been. This new family would be looking after them. They would have a new bedroom, a new school, and would be living in a different part of the city.

Mrs. Slide didn't smile at the girls. She looked at them as if she were at the grocery store and choosing between two tomatoes, and turned back to Brenda and murmured a few quick words. Then she looked at Faith and Dani again, nodded at them, grunted, "Let's go, then," and grabbed the two small bags of their belongings.

The girls quickly slipped into their coats, Faith mumbled a "bye" to Brenda, and they followed Mrs. Sidle out of the building. Dani was clutching her sketchbook tightly to her chest and frowning deeply. She hadn't spoken all day. Even when she and Faith were alone, she'd only scowled at the older girl whenever she tried talking to her.

Mrs. Slide led them to her rundown looking car and tossed their bags into the trunk. "Let me put that in the back with the rest of your stuff," she said, glancing at the book in Dani's hands.

The small girl held the book tighter and glared at her, "No."

Faith was wary about the woman. She hadn't done anything to make Faith mistrust her, but she wasn't very smiley or welcoming either. And the sketchbook had been the only personal item Dani had been allowed to take when Brenda took them to their old home for the last time, everything in the two bags were just clothes and a few school items. Faith hadn't felt the need to take any of her comic books; they were fun for her to read, but she didn't have any real attachment to them. She didn't have an attachment to any object in their old house, really. She'd never had a favourite stuffed animal or toy.

But the sketchbooks had become Dani's lifeline after her accident. The woman casually asking to take it away was easily something that would upset Dani; it was the only real thing that was hers.

The woman signed in annoyance but didn't bother to argue. "Fine, get in the car then."

During the car ride to the new house Faith tugged and fidgeted with the dress. She wasn't a dress person. The stockings were itchy and her legs were cold. She looked out the window, watching familiar streets give way to unfamiliar ones.

Dani, who was sitting behind their new foster parent, was absolutely still and staring at the back of the driver's seat.

Mrs. Slide looked in the rear-view mirror, making eye contact with Faith. "Which one of you is which?"

"She's Daniela. I'm… Isabel." She didn't like being addressed by her first name, but assumed the woman wouldn't take her request of being called by her middle name.

"Right," said Mrs. Slide. "She always carry that book around?"

"She likes to draw," Faith said slowly.

The woman nodded, uninterested. "My husband and I foster six other children; you two will be sharing a room with the two girls. Dinner is at six every night, bed at eight thirty. Breakfast is at seven; you both start at the local Catholic school on Monday."

"We've never been to a Catholic school."

"Well that's where you're registered. We'll get your uniforms tomorrow afternoon so you're ready the next day."

A uniform? Faith had never been to a school with uniforms before.

That would mean skirts, wouldn't it?

She tried to hide her frown. Today was Saturday, which meant they only had one day to prepare for the idea of going to a Catholic school.

Lara had prayed to God a lot when she was having sex with her men friends at night, would that count as them being Catholic?

_Yeah, probably not._

Pulling into the driveway of the house Faith was a little surprised. For one, it was an actual house; Faith had only ever lived in apartments and the brownstones of downtown Boston. She'd never lived in a real house with a real front lawn.

The house, like Mrs. Slide, was tired looking. The grass was overrun, both with weeds and children's toys. The porch looked a little rickety, and the other car parked in the driveway had two punctured tires.

The woman led them into the house where they were immediately met by a cacophony of noise. A small boy was sitting on the floor beating an assortment of plastic buckets and kitchen pots with a tree branch, and the sounds of multiple arguments could be heard further into the house.

"Your room is upstairs, last on the right," Mrs. Slide said before walking off into what Faith assumed would be the kitchen.

No welcome, no tour, no 'would you like help unpacking your things?' Not even a list of rules they had to follow.

"This is going to be so much fun," Faith said through gritted teeth. "Come on, Dan." She led her sister past the pot-beating child and up the stairs. The room was easy enough to find; there was even a piece of paper with a hastily written 'girl's' on it across from two labelled as 'boys'. "Guess this is our stop."

Walking in, they found a moderately decorated room. Cream coloured walls, a bunk-bed against both of the side walls, and a desk against the far wall under the only window. Of the set of beds on the right, one had a very expensive looking China doll sitting on the pillow, the other a few stuffed animals amidst the unmade sheets. The two beds on the left were untouched.

"Which do you want, top or bottom?"

Dani didn't answer, just sighed unhappily.

"Okay, how about you take the top and I take the bottom then?" Her sister smiled sadly at her but didn't vocalize an objection.

"Are you the new girls?" The twins turned at the source of the voice. A young girl in a rich pink dress and blonde ringlets addressed them as she entered the room. She couldn't be older than seven.

"Uh, hey."

The blonde girl was looking them up and down, "Mmm. Nice dresses," she said with quite visible distain for such a small child.

_Snob._ "Thanks," Faith said with faux-sincerity.

"I'm Lavinia Worthington," she pointed to the doll on her bed, which looked like a Carbon-copy of herself, "And that's Lottie."

"This is Daniela. I'm," she frowned when she said her full name, "Isabel."

"I'm Mary," said a mousey looking girl leaning in the doorframe. She was larger set, with messy brown hair and rather large brown eyes. "I'm eleven. I've been here three months. My bed's the top one." She spoke very fast. "You two are twins, aren't you? I've never met twins before. Which one of you is older? Are you going to be starting school with us? What grade will you be in, do you know?"

Lavinia scowled at her, "It's rude to ask so many questions. Go and see if Mrs. Slide has supper ready." The mousey girl did as she was told, as if taking orders from someone younger than her was something she was used to.

"She gets excited," the snobby girl said, sitting down on her bed. "She's never lived with other children before. And I don't think her parents exactly disciplined her, they spent too much time bruising each other to worry about her."

"Right," Faith said uncomfortably. She had no idea why this girl was in foster care, as she clearly had a proper upbringing, but already Faith didn't like her. "But you have?"

"Have what?"

"Lived with other kids before?"

The girl nodded politely, "My big brother Timothy, he's here too. He's sixteen. You'll meet him soon, he likes to give a proper introduction to all the new foster children," she smiled wickedly before continuing, "And you'll meet the other boys at dinner. Oh," her face fell as she looked at Dani, "You might want to," she touched her cheek, "There's dirt on your face."

Dani didn't say anything.

"She isn't very talkative."

"Just don't wanna talk to you."

Lavinia's eyebrows arched, "Well isn't that a nice thing to say."

"Leave her alone, she's had a rough day."

"Oh, did your mother abandon you for her cocaine addiction?"

It took all the force Faith could muster to keep from throwing herself at the other girl in rage. "Faith, no," Dani whispered, grasping the older girl's hand.

"Are you always a bitch, or is it just 'cause we're new?"

"You shouldn't speak to me that way," the girl seethed.

"Yeah?"

"Just because you're new doesn't mean you'll get any special treatment. There would be no hesitation to punish saucy girls like you here."

"The Mrs. didn't look exactly like the belt strap type."

"I didn't mean _Mrs. _Slide. Mr. Slide works at a factory, he's got a nice big belt I bet he'd love to try on you."


	37. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Willow smiled to herself in content, burrowing deeper into the blankets. She was lying on her side, her head resting on Faith's shoulder and her hair fanned over her face, blocking out some of the sunlight creeping through the fabric of the blinds. Faith was warm and very comfy next to her, with a protective arm draped casually over Willow's back.

Trying not to let her mind think about exactly what this would look like to someone walking into the room, Willow tried to fall back asleep. But despite her efforts, she was most definitely awake and without any hope of sleeping again anytime soon. Once her mind started going, even this early in the morning, it was hard to make it stop.

_It isn't anything,_ she argued with herself. _We just fell asleep together. After making-out like teenagers for I don't even know how long and making sure the Potentials were banned from the room because Faith needed some 'quiet time to heal.'_

_But that doesn't mean anything. Nope. Not at all._

_Willow, you know this is a bad idea. A bad, bad, bad idea. You like her. A lot. You have no idea if it goes both ways. You're just setting yourself up for a bigger and more painful fall._

The redhead internally stuck her tongue out at the voice in her head, not wanting to listen to rational thought this early in the morning. So they'd kissed – a lot – last night. It wasn't like Faith had been complaining.

The brunette shifted next to her.

_I wonder how long she's been awake,_ Willow thought, knowing her companion wasn't asleep_._

Willow's hand slowly snaked over the Slayer's stomach, beginning to play with the fabric of her shirt. She began drawing patterns on it, letting her fingers run over the other girl's ribs and abs in smooth, flowing motions.

_Don't think don't think don't think about what this may or may not be just live in the moment and enjoy it don't start analyzing it and over-thinking it and please don't ruin it._

The brunette's arm around her shoulders tightened in response to Willow's movements. Faith was definitely awake.

"Hey," Willow whispered.

She could hear the smile in the other girl's voice, "Hey, yourself."

"How… how long have you been awake?"

"A while."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You snore. Couldn't sleep."

Willow slapped the Slayer's stomach lightly, "I do not."

"Nah, just messin' with ya."

"We should probably get up soon."

"Yeah."

Neither girl moved for a long moment.

"You're really comfy."

Faith laughed, "Is that so? You know, I… I don't normally… do this… the 'cuddle thing.' Not very often. Or, you know, ever."

"Well, you're very good at it."

"Don't really know what I'm doing."

"Well," Willow began, "You… you just lie there and be comfy. That's a good place to start. You don't let your mind start thinking about what's going on because that's, well, that's just bad news. You just stay where you are, being all warm and smiley and enjoying the other person's company and drawing comfort from them. With occasional teasing and touching. Like this, see," she demonstrated, drawing patterns on Faith's stomach through her shirt again, "Like that. For a non-cuddler, I'd say you're doing fine."

Faith chuckled and Willow relished the sound. "I'm serious though," her voice was gentle but honest, "I've never really done this."

Willow could have assumed as much. Back when Faith had first come to Sunnydale, she had been pretty open about her sexuality and her sexual partners. Faith was confident. She met someone, enjoyed them, and then moved on. Willow could understand the lack of cuddling. It was probably awkward to cuddle with a complete stranger.

The redhead should have been a little put off by these thoughts, thoughts of just how different she and Faith were when it came to relationships. Willow thrived on reassurance and communication from the person she was with. Faith, as she had put it so many years ago, was more 'get some, get gone.'

She _should have_ been put off by this, but she wasn't. Faith clearly was not a cuddle-bunny. Yet here she was, cuddling with the redhead like she did it all the time.

That obviously meant something.

It meant that, knowing how withholding and distanced she was with people, Faith felt comfortable enough to put herself in what could be described as a vulnerable situation with Willow.

Really, she knew she shouldn't be smiling, but the witch couldn't help it.

"I don't want to get up," Willow sighed. "I don't want to break this spell. I don't want to go back to the real world where everything is hard and sharp and painful. I want to just… just stay here and not have to think."

"I know what you mean."

Rolling fully onto her stomach and leaning up on her elbows, Willow peered at the Slayer intently, letting her eyes follow the lines of the face before her. Her voice was hushed when she spoke again, "I don't want to think about what this is. I just want to live it."

"But…" Faith seemed hesitant. She took a deep breath, "But there is something goin' on here." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah."

A nod. "Why… why don't we hold off figuring out what it is then? Whatever is going on, let's just let it happen. There is so much death and despair going on outside that door, how about we let this happen and deal with it after we've saved the world."

_She's scared,_ Willow realized suddenly. _I don't want to label what it is because I don't want to deal with what it might actually be. I don't want to deal with Faith not feeling the same way and having this not mean anything to her._

_But Faith… she doesn't want to label it because it scares her._

_There's so much I don't know about her._

_I know she's been with more people than me, that's obvious. But has she… has she ever _been_ with anyone? On more than just a physical level? Has she actually been in a real relationship? I don't want to think about how awful that could be, having as much experience in the world as she has and never having let herself get really close to someone._

_But everything about her screams 'I don't do relationships.'_

"I can hear those wheels turning, Red."

_This is going to turn into a complete and horrible mess, I just know it. _

_I mean, she doesn't date. I know that. I've _seen _that. I remember how she was at The Bronze, how she wanted attention, but only for what she could control._

_And yet here I am, feeling something for her despite it. I'm just torturing myself. What if it really is something casual to her, all the kissing last night? What if this is all just something to pass the time while we wait for the world to end and she laughs at me because I want it to be something more?_

"You okay in that head of yours, Willow?"

"I'm fine," she breathed softly, realizing she was had been ignoring Faith. "Just…thinking."

"I thought we just agreed not to do that."

"I can't help it," she mumbled pathetically, looking down at the bedspread. She let her arms slide out so she was fully lying down on her stomach, face pressed into the pillow. She inhaled deeply, taking in the white fabric's smell of dryer lint and fruity hair shampoo.

Faith sighed heavily. Willow could feel the weight of it hanging in the room, pressing down on her. She felt the mattress shift next to her and knew Faith had rolled onto her side, facing away from Willow. And Willow sighed internally to herself. She hadn't meant to make the Slayer upset. She just… thought too much sometimes.

The redhead lifted one arm to rest it under her head as she turned onto her side, studying Faith's back intently. Her shoulder blades were visible through her thin shirt, and her dark hair on the light-coloured sheets stood out sharply, inviting Willow to touch the brunette locks.

Her free arm reached out nervously, but eventually slid among the strands of hair. She let them flow through her fingers absentmindedly as she thought about what to say to make Faith turn and look at her again.

It appeared that Faith had other plans however; Willow saw Faith's back stiffen the moment her fingers began playing in the Slayer's hair. Studying the girl, Willow continued to comb her fingers through the locks before her; Faith's body language indicated she was not at all relaxed.

Faith's voice was rough when she spoke, "What are you doing?"

"Playing with your hair," Willow hummed in response.

A beat, and then, "Why?"

_Because it's what people do when they cuddle?_

_Oh. Right. Not big on the cuddling._

"D-do you want me to stop?"

Faith waited a long moment before answering, "Um… I'm not… I'm not really sure what's going on."

"I'm playing with your hair," Willow repeated herself slowly, unsure.

"Yeah, but… why?"

The redhead's eyebrows knotted in confusion. _What does she mean 'why?'_ Out loud she tried to keep her voice level, "I don't understand what you mean. Hasn't anyone ever… oh."

_She's never had anyone play with her hair._

_Oh Goddess, what am I doing? Clearly this is not the girl I should be falling for. She really has no idea what a true relationship is, does she?_

"Is this a normal thing people do?" Faith asked, rolling over so her eyes met the redhead's. Willow let her hand drop to rest on the girl's side lightly, feeling her insides melt at the child-like look Faith's chocolate-coloured eyes had taken on.

"Sometimes."

"God, I must be seriously damaged or something. You've got me cuddling and you're playin' with my hair. Since when do I do girly crap like that?"

"…Since me?"

Faith actually laughed, long and hard. Willow's eyes were glued to Faith's lips, watching the way they moved from a smile to a full laugh. "Yeah, Red. Since you."

"Faith… Faith I promise to stop thinking about… this," She indicated between the two of them, "and just let whatever happens happen until we actually have time to deal with it… if you answer something."

"Shoot."

"Is…" her voice faded as she lost her nerve.

"Is what?"

Willow shook her head, indicating she didn't want to finish.

"Come on, Red. Is what?"

Unable to get the fear she felt to leave her voice, Willow asked, "Is… is this just something casual for you?" The words were barely above a whisper; embarrassed at both having to ask the question and subtly admit it was something so important to her.

"Red, I… no. It isn't. This isn't… this isn't like what I used to do. I'm not really sure what I'm doing, but, shit, it feels deeper than that, you know? I… I have no idea what's going on, but I'm thinking you do." Pulling herself into a sitting positing, the brunette looked down at Willow. "I have no idea what's going on. Hell, I've known you for years; I have no idea why suddenly I feel so connected with you. Why I trusted you to come back to Boston with me. Why I trust you around Dani. Why I can feel my walls coming down around you. Why I kissed you last night and then made-out with you for hours. _Without_ trying to take it any further. Why I'm fucking _cuddling_ with you. I don't have a clue what the hell is happening inside me. But I know this isn't just some causal fling. It… I don't know. I don't know what's going on with me."

_She feels it to._

_Goddess, this is so scary._

_I'm attracted to Faith._

_And I think… from what she just said… she's attracted to me. _

"I think…" _How do I say this without scaring her off? If she's never _liked_ anyone before, this has probably got to be really scary for her. _"I think… I think that maybe…"

About to say something very heartfelt, the witch lost all train of thought when a loud crash resounded from somewhere below them. And then a scream. And then a curse. And then a then a cacophony of more crashes and screaming.

_Right. The real world is still going on down there._

_Now I don't remember what I was going to say._

She opened her mouth to apologize but the Slayer cut her off, "It's okay. Duty calls. Go, see what's goin' on down there. I'll go have a shower, get some of the basement dirt from last night off me."

"Your leg?"

"Should be fine. I'll let you know if you need to play nurse."

Willow tried incredibly hard not to blush. But judging from the growing smile on Faith's face, she could tell she had not succeeded and her face was now making an imitation of her hair.

"How long have you been waiting to use that line?"

"Since last night."

"Figures."


	38. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

_This is so not fair. Stupid leg, if you didn't have to bleed everywhere I would _not_ be stuck in this situation. I would have been able to turn the other way when they decided they wanted to have a Scooby meeting, skip out for a little while._

_Now I'm freaking stuck here, in bed, while they decide to have the meeting _around_ me. God damn it._

_Stupid leg._

_Stupid ancient vampire with its stupid ancient claws._

_This so isn't fair. Way to kick a dog when she's down._

The grumpy brunette was reclined back on the bed, not even bothering to look interested in the people talking around her. She had managed to shower on her own without passing out from the pain, but after one look at her leg Giles had deemed her to bed-rest.

Slayer healing was a fickle thing. Yeah, the leg was clearly getting better, some of the tearing had healed, but the scraps of skin simply hanging from her leg still looked ripe and nasty. She'd nearly lost the little in her stomach just looking at it.

And it still hurt like a bitch.

So here they were; Giles, Buffy, and Andrew for some reason, scattered around Willow's room having a meeting and forcing Faith to be a part of it because she couldn't exactly make a break for it.

The topic of discussion: Slayer dreams.

Specifically, the Slayer dream-Buffy had had last night, what it meant, and how Faith had yet to tell Giles about the one she had had two weeks earlier.

"So you were standing where?"

"I don't know exactly," Buffy answered the Englishman's question. "It was… I'm not sure. A desert somewhere? There was sand."

"How does sand constitute desert?" The restless Slayer asked.

She received a bland look in return from Buffy, "A lot of sand."

"Lots of sand," Andrew repeated, scribing the important parts of the meeting in a notebook. Faith could come up with no concrete reason why except to make himself feel more included. Though, when was the last time she'd been in Sunnydale? Maybe times had changed and Giles had taken to makin' notes about important things. It would make it easier when doing research.

The brunette winced at the thought of having to do research on Buffy's dreams of Death Valley.

"Sineya was there."

Giles nodded, obviously understanding what Buffy had meant.

Faith, however, did not. "Who?"

"The First Slayer."

_It's like talking to a wall. A blonde, preppy, tight-ass wall. Why am I here if they're gonna say things that mean absolutely nothing to me? _

"Who?"

"Faith, the name is kind of implying," the blonde said with an eye roll. "She was the first girl to become a Slayer. Some bigoted old men fused her soul with a demon and let her lose on all the evil plaguing their village. When she died her power passed on to a new girl and our line was born."

_Right, because I so knew that._

"Old demon chick, got it."

Andrew was still hunched over the notepad like it was a treasured possession, "First Slayer," he narrated. "Okay, do you know why this fair lass came to visit you?"

Buffy made an exasperated sound, rocking back on her heels, "She tends to come up in my dreams whenever she has something really important to say."

"And what did she say?" Giles prodded.

"Well, see, that's the problem." Giles gave her a very unimpressed look. After a moment Buffy whined, "What?"

"Buffy, the state of the world is at hand. It is imperative you remember exactly what she told you."

"It isn't my fault Giles! I've never been woken up early from a Slayer dream before! They end and then I wake up. That's how it goes. But one of the girls sleeping in my room went to the bathroom and when she came back she tripped over one of the sleeping bags and fell on all the other girls in the room. And there was screaming and yelling and I woke up. I tried going back to sleep but the dream didn't continue because I couldn't fall back asleep!"

"You were in the middle of conversing with the First Slayer when you were woken up?"

"Yes."

"What was she saying before the dream ended?"

"She was talking about power. She said my power wasn't focused yet. She was saying she wanted to show me the source before the dream cut out."

"That's all you remember?"

"I don't know, okay? There was a lot going on. Everything was blurring by really fast."

The blonde man spoke up, "Is that normal?"

"Well, no, not for Slayer dreams. Those tend to be… slower. Almost painful. This one wasn't very long either. Usually I wake up exhausted from dreaming for so long."

"And Faith, is that the same for you?"

The brunette perked up at the sound of her name. "Uh… yeah. Sure," she answered, having only been partially listening to the conversation.

"Buffy," the Watcher looked frustrated, "Is there anything else worthwhile that you remember?"

"Um…" she ran a hand through her honey-coloured locks, "I saw the army of übervamps under the school… nothing new there. Had that dream a few weeks ago. Did I already mention all the sand?" A beat, and then, "I think there may have been orange trees."

_God, I am so glad I don't get the dreams as often as she does. She sounds like she's wasted; orange trees? What the hell?_

"Oh," Buffy continued, beginning to pace the room, "And she had a weapon with her."

Giles looked sharply at the blonde, "That's new, isn't it?"

"Yeah… it was like a big, pointy axe thing."

_Huh. Now isn't that interesting. Damn it, I thought we were done with my dream._

"What colour was it?" Faith asked her sister Slayer.

Buffy thought for a moment, "Red."

"Fancy blade, with a stake at one end?"

"Yeah," Buffy said slowly. "You saw it too?"

"When I had my dream a few weeks back, yeah. Some old crow was holding it."

Faith let her eyes roam over the room. Andrew looked very interested in what was going on, still meticulously taking notes. Buffy had been pacing in front of the door but had stopped now, focusing her attention on Faith. And Giles, as per usual, was giving her a disappointed look. "You didn't mention this earlier," he said flatly.

"Yeah, well, it was a while ago. I don't remember everything. And I told Red about it when we were on the plane, I figured she'd relay the important things to you," she blew out a hard breath, "And how was I supposed to know some fancy piece of metal was important."

"We don't," Buffy cut in. "It's likely though, if we both dreamed about it, but we don't know for sure. You said an older woman was holding it?"

Faith nodded, trying to picture the dream in her head. The image was faded and fuzzy around the edges. "Yeah, she was… old."

"That's a remarkable description, Faith." The Slayer hadn't known it was possible for Giles' voice to drip with that much sarcasm.

"She was an old lady, holding an axe, talkin' to me about a tree. That's all I got."

"A tree?" Andrew repeated.

"Uh huh. Real interesting." She shifted her position on the bed, ignoring the sudden flare of pain that shot through her lower leg. She was growing restless. Being confined to staying in bed for however long her leg needed to heal was not her idea of a party. Nowhere near, actually. If it were up to her, she'd be downstairs, working some more with the Rugrats to help them prepare for what they all knew was coming.

_Damn it, you know it's bad when I'd rather be training the brats. I hate sitting still. I need to move._

"Do you remember any of the dialogue, what she was telling you about the tree?"

"Look, G-man, it was two weeks ago. Two _long_ weeks ago. The only way I'm going to remember exactly what she told me was if I had the dream again."

She turned away and glanced out the widow, pleased with her comeback. She knew he was trying to help, but the Englishman's fixation on anything and everything relating to the Slayer was beginning to grate against her the wrong way. How did Buffy stand it?

When she looked back, she felt a stab of dread.

_Oh, fuck. What did I say?_

Giles was looking curiously at her. Buffy was looking like she was going to praise her for kissing a baby or something. Andrew was scribbling in the notebook furiously.

_What did I do?_

_All I said was the only way I'd remember everything was if – _

_Oh, come on!_

_No, no way. They… they can't do that? Can they?_

_Ugg, of course they can. They're the Super Friends._

_Nice going, Lehane. This one is your own dumbassed fault._

"You know I was kidding, right?"

But her plea came too late. Buffy looked over at her mentor, "Can we do that?"

"Dream-walks are extremely risky business. I know a few members of the Coven in Devonshire that perform them; usually Seers who only receive their visions in dream form. It is very dangerous though, treading the fabric of this realm and the one of dreams. Often those inexperienced get tangled in their own webs, getting caught in the threads of the past and unconscious. Buffy, I'd be much more comfortable if you both just focused more on your abilities and tried to remember what you saw, rather than relying on magic to help you."

But Buffy was clearly in her determined mode now, "But Giles, this could be the break we're looking for! Even if Faith and I remember our dreams, we won't remember them all perfectly. Slayer dreams are prophetic; they can foretell what's going to happen. Doing this could give us a clue to help us stop The First."

_I am just lovin' how this conversation is going on without me. Did I suggest doing this because I wanted to? No. I said it as a way to be funny and get Giles off my back. _

_But now these two are twisting my words and makin' it into some big deal._

_Right about now would be when I'd sneak out of the room to go have a smoke; come back when the argument's blown over._

Watcher and Slayer continued to butt heads.

"Buffy, these things are very dangerous. And time consuming. We don't know how long the two of you would be out of contact with us. And with Caleb and The First drawing-in more forces, it's highly likely they could plan an attack while you two are unreachable."

"It's not like we're going to tell them that! 'Oh, hey, Caleb? Yeah, Faith and I are going to be asleep for a few days, feel free to drop by and massacre us all.' Giles, come on."

"Buffy, with the two of you gone the house would be nearly defenceless."

_Did they always used to argue like this, or is this a new thing?_

_Are they still pissed at each other because of the whole Giles and Robin trying to kill Spike thing Red mentioned? _

_Fuck, why can't I leave the room? Now I have to listen to them fight it out like two dogs in a pit._

"We were fine while Willow and Faith were in Boston."

"That was before Caleb had re-opened the Seal of Danthaz. And Xander nearly lost his eye while they were gone."

"Giles, we're doing this. It's the only way we can get information. The First Slayer only comes to me when she has something really important to say. Clearly a psychotic preacher and some smoke demon trying to destroy the Slayer line are important."

"Buffy, you easily remembered what she told you when you spoke with her before Glory-"

"That wasn't a dream though, that was a vision quest! Andrew," she barked. The young man looked up from where he'd been doodling on the notepad. "Go get Willow and the others. Fill them in on what's going on and get Willow ready to do a spell for us. We'll need her to lead us into re-living the dream."

_Have I even said I'm cool with all this?_

_Not that I won't, she looks like she's about to piss a billboard. Not really in the mood to lose my other leg. _

_But still, did I even agree to doing this?_

The young man left the room quickly; babbling about how the re-living dream thing was just like some episode of some geeky show the brunette had never seen.

Giles and Buffy continued to have their staring contest while Faith sat there awkwardly, trying to come up with something smart to say that wouldn't further piss them off. She didn't come up with a whole lot.

God, she hoped Buffy knew what she was doing.


	39. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

"So… the flashy little ball is going to do what exactly?" Faith asked, eyeing the crystal.

She was seated on the floor, leaning against Buffy's bed. When it had been officially decided that the Slayers would be doing the dream-walk, Buffy had insisted she wanted to do it from the comfort of her own room. So Faith had been forced to comply and had managed to get herself down the hall and into Buffy's bedroom without assistance.

Faith was stubborn that way. Willow knew her leg was healing quickly thanks to the Slayer powers, but she also knew the girl must be in at least a little pain.

_Maybe the sleep will be good for her, let her rest until it's fully healed._

The redhead was kneeling on the floor across from Faith, setting the black candles in a perfect circle. "Well," she said, sliding easily into research mode, "It lets the user relive memories, visions and dreams. We're going to use it to put you in a trance and help you relive the Slayer dreams you both had. Hopefully you'll be able to get more out of it if you can focus on what is going on in the dream, instead of just being part of it when you first had it and not being fully aware of what was happening around you."

"So we'll be able to see the important part of the dreams and, y'know, skip though the boring stuff."

Willow paused in her movements for a moment, "Well… yes. But, Faith, it would better if you both relived both dreams completely. Just because you don't think it's important doesn't mean isn't. You shouldn't need to skip over any of the dream."

Faith kept her face neutral, but Willow easily saw through the mask.

_There's something she doesn't want us to know, something she doesn't want Buffy to see._

"Faith?"

"'S'nothing, Red."

"Oh, clearly."

Faith narrowed her eyes, "Its fine, Willow."

"Faith… is there something that happened in the dream that you… that you don't want Buffy to see?" It was gone in an instant, but the witch still glimpsed the pain that flashed across her companion's face. "Faith?"

The Slayer dragged her fingers through her hair nervously, "No. Whatever. It's cool."

_Don't close me out like that. Please, talk to me._ "Faith… y-you can talk to me."

"Look, just, the end of the dream wasn't all that pleasant; I'd rather not have to live it again," the brunette offered carefully.

The witch stayed quiet a moment, thinking. She didn't want to tell Faith to skip the end of her dream, just because it was bad didn't mean it wouldn't offer needed insight. But at the same time, though Faith was trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal, this 'unpleasant' thing could be just about anything. Maybe it would be better if she didn't relive it if it was that bad.

Eventually she said, "You'll have to use your digression. And you may not even have control of the dreams. I mean, you should be able to focus your memories, center on the important details and filter-out the rest, but that's only if this all goes as planned."

"All goes as planned? You mean with the magic?" Faith asked sceptically.

"You let me worry about the magic," she laughed lightly. "You and Buffy need to worry about what you're seeing and take in as much detail as possible," she said without looking up. She was concentrated on lighting the candles, moving the lit match around the circle counter-clockwise until each had a strong orange flame.

"And what exactly is the magic part?" Faith asked, picking up one of the stones from the pile.

"Well, I – please don't break that – I'm going to start the spell, ease you two into a mystical sleep. Then I'll have to anchor you both to this plane. Any sort of magic involving the other realms requires grounding; when you enter another realm, your body is forced to stay here. Only your spirit can travel. Your spirit can flow freely, but because it's no longer attached to your body, it can… well the best analogy would be it getting lost."

"Eh?"

She looked at the white, polished stone the Slayer was rolling between her fingers. "Can you place that and the other ones like it in between each candle?" Faith nodded and did as instructed while Willow stood and moved to Buffy's desk, lighting the incense stick she'd placed there earlier. She continued, "If you stay gone for too long, the ethereal strings linking your spirit to your body deteriorate and begin to loosen their hold. Gone too long, the strings detach fully and your spirit can't find its way back. Anchoring is like… reinforcing the strings."

"Is it hard?"

"What, anchoring someone?"

"Yeah, have you done it before?"

Willow took a silent but deep breath, forcing herself to answer. "Yes. With… with Tara. She taught me how to do it actually." When she turned to look at Faith over her shoulder, the Slayer had a sympathetic look on her face.

"Musta been one smart witch."

"She was."

"Willow-"

"Wills, we almost ready?" Buffy asked as she entered the room, Giles following but halting in the door frame, ending the intimate moment.

"Almost."

"And how're you holding up?" the blonde directed her question at Faith.

"Peachy."

"You have everything settled then, Willow?" Giles asked, inspecting what she'd set up in the room. "The dream sphere, you're familiar with it?"

"I…" _Uh oh. Why did he have to ask me that? _"I've… well I've never actually… used one before. I mean, I know how it works. We sold a few at the Magic Box. But, well… it does involve focus and raw power, to access memories on a subconscious level."

"Are you sure you'll be able to do this?" Giles asked, concerned but not belittling.

She didn't hesitate in her answer, "Yes." She was nervous, but still confident. She had advanced a lot in her study of magic, both before and with the help of the Coven in England. She'd grown from novice Wicca to out of control witch to powerful but controlled magic-wielder with only the occasional black eyed problem. But she could do this. It would be similar to putting up the ward around the house, a spell but not a direct channel of power. She would just be guiding the Slayers on a deeper level, it wasn't like she was going to conjure a herd of elephants out of thin air.

"Remember though," she continued, addressing the two Slayers, "I won't be there with you. I'll get you two into the trance and magically anchor your spirits to your bodies, and initiate the dream sphere's power, but my spirit wont be with you. You two will be alone in your dreams."

_Please don't kill each other._

The blonde looked thoughtful for a moment, "How long will we be gone?"

"There's no way to know fully. However long it takes you to re-dream both the dreams? That's why I have to anchor you, and ward the room to keep everyone out; your bodies can't be disturbed while you're gone or it could make it even harder for you to return and wake up."

"We'll keep everyone safe while you're… gone," Giles said stiffly.

"We won't be out long," Buffy reassured, "In an out. Piece of cake.

Faith snorted but didn't say anything.

"Alright, why don't we-"

"Wait!"

"Hey kiddo," Faith laughed as her sister skipped into the room and proceeded to launch herself at the Slayer. "Hey, hey, watch the merchandise," she indicated the candles, "Red'll have your head if you break them."

Dani delicately settled herself next to her sister on the floor. "You're going to sleep."

"Yeah. Don't be a pain while we're out."

"No pain. It will go well. You'll get to see things. Everything's important."

"That's what I'm told," she threw an arm around Dani in a casual hug, "Be good. Please."

Dani nodded.

"Oh, hey, are you almost ready to do this?" Anya asked as she peeked her head into the room.

"Just about," Willow answered.

"Good. Well, here," she said, stepping into the room. She handed a plate to Buffy.

"…dried apricots. Um, thanks?"

"They're for when you wake up."

"Uh huh," Buffy pursed her lips. "Anya, what are these for?"

"For when you wake up," the other blonde repeated. "Any form of astral projection takes its toll on the body, not just the spirit. It's always better to have some form of food and drink for when you first wake up, it helps secure your spirit back in place when you come back to this realm. The traditional food for witches and warlocks is dried meats and wine, which we didn't have. But not many people know how well apricots work. Small, dried, wrinkly things. I know lots of demons who prefer apricots when they shift planes or dimensions. There are whole businesses directed at providing-"

"That's enough, Anya," Giles interrupted. "I think we get the point."

"Take the time to eat them when you finish," she smiled brightly and nodded in affirmation.

_I never even thought about that. If you were doing a more difficult spell you could be out of your body for over a week, having food when you come back would give the body energy after being still for so long. _

_What a good idea._

_And the sweetness of the apricot probably helps with the aftertaste of temporal shifting._

"Alright, if we're all set then," the Watcher instructed, "Why don't we leave Willow and the Slayers to their spell?" He herded the former vengeance demon from the room, who was still trying to give them advice about dream-walking.

"Be good, Dani. I won't be gone long."

"Not long," Dani smiled. "And don't worry, we'll hold them off."

"What?"

Dani jumped to her feet and left the room, careful to step around the circle of candle and altar stones.

"Where do you want us, Will?" Buffy asked when they were alone.

"Hmm. The bed I guess. It would be better if we were in a circle around the dream sphere, but at the end of the spell you two will be asleep."

"And I don't appreciate sleeping on the floor when a bed is two feet away."

"The bed it is then."

While Buffy helped Faith onto the bed, at which the brunette Slayer protested loudly, Willow settled herself on the floor. She sat with her back to the door, facing Buffy's bed, with the circle of candles and stones in front of her. All the candles were lit and a few had small beads of black wax sliding down their sides. She inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the incense and letting herself relax.

Reaching forward, she let the pads of her fingers touch the closest of the stones sitting in between each of the candles. It was warm to the touch, already beginning to sense the magic in the air.

The witch glanced at the bed as she let go of the stone; the Slayers were sitting side by side watching her carefully. She smiled at them and then focused back on the circle in front of her. She set the sphere in the center of the ring, feeling its power reaching to remain in contact with her as she let go. After a few moments she watched as its glowing center began to pulse in a gentle, steady rhythm. _Bright, pause, darken, pause. _It was a familiar tempo for magic and meditation, like crashing waves at a beach or trees moving in the wind; a natural rhythm of the world that was used as a guide for breathing in all forms of meditation.

"Let your breathing follow mine," she instructed as she evened her inhaling and exhaling to match the pulse of the orb.

She could sense when both of the Slayer's minds had calmed. She knew Buffy had learned meditation in her early years of training with Giles, so she knew the blonde knew how to center herself and let her mind go blank. What surprised her was how fast Faith's mind became quiet. In no time the younger Slayer had let her mind go blank and was breathing deeply and evenly.

_Someone was a busy beaver in prison. I'll have to ask her about it later._

_Here we go._

First Willow let her mind connect magically with the other girls in the room. It was similar to when she communicated telepathically with her friends. Though, that was more about implanting her thoughts into their heads and being aware of their reply. Now she was letting her magic create tendrils of power and lacing their three minds together in a web-link fashion.

Once the Slayers were fully in their trance, she'd break the connections between her and them, leaving them only connected with each other. It would aid them in being conscious in each other's dreams and allow their spirits to stay together when they left their bodies.

With her eyes closed she reached forward, letting her fingertips rest on the sphere. She felt the pool of magic inside her flare immediately, the magic within the sphere and the magic inside her reacting. Her body grew heavy as the sphere began doing its job, bringing the user into a deep trance.

_Not so fast_, she chided the magical object. She directed the orb's magic towards the two Slayers. It flowed along the lines she'd just created and began weaving its power into them instead.

Sensing rather than seeing the Slayers slip into a light sleep, Willow began to murmur the words of the spell that would tell the sphere exactly what she wanted it to do.

Eyes fluttering open, she finished the chant as she looked towards the bed. Buffy and Faith were now lying back, deeply asleep.

"_Tenebrae_," she whispered and flicked her wrist smoothly, causing the all candles to blow out as one.

When she finished Willow stood silently and walked backwards towards the closed door. Drawing on only her own power now, she began weaving a warding around the room, similar to what she had put up around the house. She needed this in place so no one could disturb the Slayers until they had woken up. If their bodies were moved prematurely their spirits may not find their way back.

And then they'd really be in trouble.

With the ward almost set, she reached behind her and opened the door. The redhead backed out of the room as she let the last of her magic fall into place. She could see the slight shimmer in the doorway indicating the ward was set. And with a gentle pull, she closed the door.

"Did it go okay?" Dawn asked from behind her.

Willow turned, looking at the younger Summers leaning on the railing. "Everything's in place. The door can only be opened from the inside."

"And they're asleep now?"

Willow smiled, "Just like magic."


	40. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

"Where are we?"

"The Bronze." Buffy replied. Faith turned, Buffy was standing behind her, looking in the other direction. The brunette followed her line of sight. Buffy was watching the band on stage play their set.

"Uh… there's no music."

"Yeah, that usually happens."

"What?"

Buffy explained, "A lot of my Slayer dreams start off here. I'm not sure why, they just do. And it's always really packed full of people, with a band playing really loudly in the background, and everyone rocking out and enjoying themselves." She paused, a small frown on her face, "But the sound is always filtered out, so I can see people enjoying themselves but I can't join in. Alone. It's kind of a theme."

"That's deep."

Buffy rolled her eyes, "I try."

"So… this was your dream then. Willow's spell worked?"

"I guess so. I don't… I don't feel any different."

"How does this work exactly? Are we the dream, are we watching the dream, or…?"

"Oh, right, because I have vast amounts of knowledge in this area. How should I know? Come on, it started over here."

Faith sighed but followed the other Slayer as she led them towards the couches by the back. She was surprised to find that her leg was not ripped to shreds like it should have been. "Hey, look. I can walk."

"You want an award for that observation?"

Faith gave her a sceptic look, pointing to her leg.

"Well that makes sense," Buffy answered.

"Wanna fill me in on why?

"It's a dream. You're always the perfect image of yourself in a dream. You wouldn't dream that your leg is all ripped apart. It could happen in the dream, but it wouldn't be something you carry over when you first fall asleep."

Raising her eyebrows, Faith said, "Again. Deep."

Reaching the couches at the back, Faith noticed they were new. Well, new to her anyway. She was pretty sure they weren't orange the last time she was here. But then, it had been a while since she'd been at The Bronze, so it was likely the furniture had changed. Especially in a town known for demon attacks.

Or it could just be that the couches were the wrong colour in Buffy's dreams. Apparently anything was possible.

"So, what are-"

"I don't know why you're asking me, I told you I don't know how any of this works."

"Right. Sorry." Faith glanced around; no one in the club was paying them any attention. Casually, while Buffy flopped down on one of the couches, Faith strayed towards the edge of the dance floor where a group of girls were standing. She waved her hand in front of one of the girls' faces, but received no reaction. "B, check it out. We're like ghosts."

"Glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Oh, hey, cool."

"What now?" Buffy asked in a huff.

"I see you."

"That's marvellous, Faith."

"No, B. I see _you._ Over there." She pointed. Another Buffy was walking purposefully towards the couches, seemingly not noticing the other two Slayers.

Buffy leaped up off the couch as her dream-self began to sit down on top of her, still not aware she was there. "This is weird. I guess… I guess that's me?"

"No shit, Blondie."

"Shut up. I meant, I guess that's me from the dream, how I was seeing things? So… we're just bystanders in the dream now. We can't interfere?"

"Cool. So what happens next?"

Buffy nodded towards the back door, where none other than Caleb had strolled in. The Buffy on the couch tensed, glaring at him, as did the Buffy standing next to the couch.

"_Evenin', little lady."_

"_What do you want?"_

"_Just passin' through. Big and busy place like this, figured there'd be some nice, fresh meat to bring back to the castle. Gotta feed them dragons."_

"This is so weird."

"Faith, shut up and listen!"

The dream-Buffy had stood up and was now facing off with the preacher. _"Get out of my town,"_ she growled.

"_All in due time, my dear. First, I've got an army to feed. Say, would any of those nice little girls of yours like to come by for a visit? Say hello to the minions of my Lord and master?"_

"_Sick pervert."_

"_You're a feisty one, aren't you?"_

"_Get out."_

"_Now, now. That's no way for a lady to behave. You should be more respectful."_

"_Bite me."_

Caleb tisked,_ "I will enjoy watching you burn in hell. Now then, move along so I can continue searching."_

"_Searching for what?"_

"_Mind your own business, girl. This has nothing to do with you. Well, now, that isn't right. It has everything to do with you, but I plan to find it first. My quest is for the power of glory that will lead my Lord to triumph."_

"_Why do you call it your Lord. The First is a demon, not a God."_

"_I serve the beast as if it were my Lord and master. I pledge myself, body and soul, to its cause. And my Lord? It will crush you."_

"How, exactly?" Faith mumbled. "We can't exactly touch it."

"Faith, wait and see what I – me – she – has to say."

"_That's were your wrong," _the dream-Buffy insisted. _"It can't crush us, it can't even touch us. How exactly can it take over when it's no more than a big, ugly ghost?"_

Caleb smiled a wicked smile, _"Oh, you'll see, my little lady. When the time is good and ready, my Lord will take form, will take on its true and proper shape, with me as its servant, and you all will die."_

Faith could see the dream-Buffy growing agitated. _"Not going to happen,"_ she growled.

_"Oh yes it will."_

"_Get out," _she yelled as she sprung forward, shoving the man in the chest. He staggered back into a coffee table and fell backwards.

He lay sprawled on the floor, blood suddenly gushing from his eyes, ears, and nose. In a raspy, blood-choked voice he threatened, _"We'll bring you down. You haven't yet seen the last of our power. It will devour you."_

"That's a lot of blood," Faith commented. "Most people I know don't bleed like that after they fall. You must have superpowers or somethin'."

"You're loving this, aren't you?"

Faith shrugged, "I'm not hating it."

Together they watched as the dream-Buffy turned away from the dying image of Caleb and bumped right into a Bronze-goer balancing three plastic cups in his arms.

The dream-Buffy leaped backwards, avoiding the spilling liquid, _"Oh, God, I'm so sorry. I didn't even…"_ The blonde's eyes had landed on the pool of water at her feet. The liquid seemed to be seeping up from the floor, as the puddle was already much bigger than the amount of spilled liquid would have made. _"Oh!"_

"What is it?" Faith asked.

Buffy indicated they should move closer. "Look," she said, standing next to her dream-self and looking into the pool of water covering the floor of the club. Peering into the liquid, a blurry picture was beginning to take shape.

"The übervamps," the brunette stated, looking at the image of the inside of a cavern filled with the ancient and bloodthirsty vampires.

"Yeah, its confirming the army they have down there. In case, you know, I didn't get that from the last dream. Come on, I'm moving again."

It took Faith a few seconds to understand what the other girl had said; the dream-Buffy was leaving the club. The pair followed the second Buffy to the back door of The Bronze, where the blonde girl was easily weaving in and out of people in order to get outside. Faith had a really strong urge to see just how far her ghost status went, wanting to try walking through one of the club-goers, but held back when she saw the impatient look Buffy was giving her.

The two stepped through the doorway. Faith was expecting it to be dark out and there to be a cool wind blowing, as was usual after a night of Bronzing, but she was met with the opposite. The sun shone brightly overhead and there was a gentle, warm summer breeze blowing.

They were standing inside an orchard. Faith had to remind herself that this was a dream, anything could happen, and not to question the sudden disappearance of the club they had been inside seconds ago.

Faith glanced around as she followed behind Buffy, who was following behind the dream-Buffy. It was an orange grove. All the trees had ripe oranges hanging off the branches and there was a distinct citrus smell in the air.

The brunette Slayer had never been inside an orchard before. Her mother had never done the family picnic to the apple orchard thing when she was a kid. Not that Faith really blamed Lara. Looking around, the place wasn't all that interesting.

She jogged a few steps to keep up with Buffy, noticing that the ground was not grass and dirt but in fact sand.

_Kind of an odd place to grow oranges. But whatever. Buffy never claimed to be normal._

"B," she said, reaching the other girl. Buffy had picked a fruit off one of the trees and was nibbling it while following her double. "So… what's with the sun-fruits?"

Buffy looked sheepish, "I like oranges?"

Faith blinked. "Enough to dream about them?"

"I honestly have no idea."

The trees around them were beginning to become sparse, and within another few minutes the orange grove gave way to sandy surroundings. It looked like a desert. Gently sloping hills of bright beige sand. Faith brought a hand to her eyes, shielding them from the glare.

"Africa? Really? You dream about oranges and Africa?"

"What makes you think it's Africa? It's a desert, not the savannah."

"Dunno. Just felt like its Africa. There's desert in Africa."

"Right."

"Well, we're meeting up with this First Slayer chick, right?"

"Yeah," the blonde replied.

"And she was like, the first girl to be a Slayer?"

"Does the name imply nothing to you?"

"And she was demon-afied like, a hell of a long time ago?"

"Yes!" Buffy said, exasperated.

"Then, you know, wouldn't it make sense we're in Africa? Isn't that like, where the human race originated and all?"

Buffy stared at her openly, clearly shocked with Faith's logic.

"What?" Faith replied, rolling her eyes. "I went to school at one point in my life. Just because it wasn't recent doesn't mean I'm a complete idiot."

"Sorry," Buffy said. "I'm just… not used to you being so… perceptive." She gestured around herself, "I've been here before. I never really thought about where it was; it was just always the place where I met with Sineya."

Faith nodded further ahead of them, "Looks like you found the jackpot."

The dream-Buffy was coming up on a campfire. A small smear of colour against the sand, the flames of the fire licked upwards like dancing mystical spirits. The red and orange colours clashed against the faint blue of the sky, and the loud cracking of the wood feeding the fire could be heard echoing in the emptiness around them.

When they reached the other Buffy, she was staring intently into the fire, her body relaxed and unmoving.

"You hear that?" Buffy asked.

_No._ Faith thought stubbornly, but paused to try to hear whatever Buffy was hearing. All she could hear was the hissing flames and pops as the logs burned away. Pushing that away, she listened further.

_Screaming._

The brunette caught Buffy's eye and nodded her head slightly. Buffy smiled sadly, "Voices, screaming."

"_They're the ones we have not saved."_

Faith jumped, but both Buffys turned slowly, not startled by the stranger's appearance.

The First Slayer spoke only to the dream-Buffy, _"Stretching from your generation to mine, their spirits live in the fire. They are the reason we fight."_

Faith took a moment to take in the woman's form. She was dark-skinned, with black, tangled, dreadlocked hair. She had flecks of black and white war paint covering her face and arms, and was staring intently at the dream-Buffy, her eyes like black pools of lost knowledge. Her arms and legs were well-muscled, and she stood crouching slightly, shifting her weight from one foot to another; a fighter's stance.

And in her hand she tightly gripped the mysterious red weapon. It was the same as Faith remembered; red and silver hilt, with a sharp blade on one end and a wooden stake at the other.

Despite her ragged appearance, the First Slayer's voice had a musical quality to it when she spoke,_ "They are the ones we live for. The ones we die for."_

The dream-Buffy huffed under her breath, _"Bringing up death again, huh? Great." _she mumbled. Then louder she addressed the Slayer, _"Why are you here again?"_

"_To bring you the knowledge you seek."_

"_O-kay,"_ the double drawled, _"And what is the knowledge I seek?"_

"_You wish to understand your power; where you came from, _why_ you came from."_

"_Uh… no, I don't. I already did that; learning where I came from. Not a pleasant experience."_

"_It was necessary."_

"_They nearly killed you!"_

"Who?" Faith whispered.

"The Shadow Men, the guys that made her the Slayer."

"_It was an honour to live and die for my people. To protect them, as you protect yours."_

"_What if I can't protect them? What if all this isn't worth it?"_

"_The fire speaks to you. It calls to you with the voices of death. The fire does not overtake the land, so your battle has not been for naught."_

"_The First, it's building an army."_

"_An army of power."_

"_Exactly, it has power we don't understand. Power we can't fight. How are we supposed to stop it?"_

"_You cannot stop the darkness until you understand the true power you wield."_

"_Which is?"_

"_It cannot be told, only discovered. Your power is not yet focused, trained, understood."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Your mind is not yet focused where it should be. You bring with you into battle love and death; not yet strength, power and will."_

"_I have will; I have lots of will. I have a very strong will to survive, thank you very much."_

Faith raised her eyes at her companion, clearly unimpressed with the blonde's choice of words. Buffy shrugged her shoulders in mute response.

"_You lead an army, something no other has done before you. You have defied your destiny."_

"_I told you before; my world is different from yours. Now, it isn't all about the hunt, about the kill. I'm a Slayer, but I'm not alone. I don't need to be alone to-"_

"This is where it ended," Buffy whispered next to Faith.

"_You are ready to fight the oldest of old,"_ the First Slayer interrupted the dream-Buffy, _"the darkest of dark without the weapons of the Slayer. You do not let the loneliness of our kind break your spirit. But you do not understand the power given to you, the power you have taken and changed for yourself."_

Buffy furrowed her eyebrows, "The power I changed?"

"_The power I changed?" _the dream-Buffy asked.

"_You defy the hunt, the death, the true nature that is your destiny. You change the power you wield."_

Faith nudged the blonde, "Ask her if she thinks we can beat The First."

"It doesn't work like that Faith."

"_Well what am I supposed to do? You're supposed to help me, aren't you? You're supposed to impart your ancient wisdom or whatever"_

"_You do not ask the correct questions."_

Buffy mumbled, "It's not like I know what questions I'm supposed to ask."

"_Well it's not like I know what questions I'm supposed to ask,"_ the dream-Buffy huffed in the same manner as the real one.

Faith snorted in amusement, enjoying watching Buffy and her double have the exact same reactions to the First Slayer's words.

"_The beast of the dark comes to destroy humanity, and you watch without motivation."_

"_And what's that supposed to mean? I have motivation."_

"_You have not yet taken hold of the power given to you, inherited to you. It is part of your dowry as protector, yet you leave the power unnoticed, unwanted."_

"Oh my God, this is getting nowhere."

"Hey, it isn't my fault you can't understand what she's tellin' you."

"Oh, because you have so much insight. Do _you_ understand what she's telling me… her… whatever?"

"Not really."

"_Take hold what is yours."_

"_I don't know what's mine; I don't understand what you're saying."_

"_You do not comprehend."_

"_That's what I said!"_

"_The focus of your power, the truth of it, this is how you will gain success. You need to discover the power that is yours and belongs to you."_

"Like some kind of Super Slayer?"

"_What, you mean like some kind of Super Slayer?"_

"_You change that what is your nature. Yet you do not recognize it to be your own. Become aware of those around you, that which has changed through the line because you still walk. You have learned to embrace yet defy your gift of death. Now you must embrace and defy the source of your power."_

The world around Faith began to blur. Dark spots began appearing in the sky overhead, as if the dream was being shredded from the outside in. Dark pockets overtook the sky above her, growing larger and larger.

The ground shuddered deep beneath, causing three of the four Slayers present to stumble and look around in confusion, trying to regain their balance. The First Slayer stood proudly now, no longer hunched over. Her knuckles began to lighten, showing how tightly she was gripping the weapon in her hands.

"_Your stay is overdue."_

The sand under Faith's feet began sifting despite the absence of wind. The few trees and shrubs in the distance started to shake, their forms losing their clarity. They began to blur as they moved, first slowly but growing more and more jerky, as if pieces of a strip of film were missing. They slid to one side, some merging into each other as the world swirled violently. Colours began fading and running into one another as the darkness took over.

"What's going on?" Faith asked hesitantly.

"The dream's over," Buffy said, looking around wildly, trying to follow as one tree crashed into another only a short distance away from them.

"So what happens now?"

"I-I don't know. Just… just let it happen I guess."

"Not really comfortable with the idea of becoming smeared paint."

Buffy's mouth opened to reply, but her words never made it past her throat as everything around them suddenly erupted with darkness.


	41. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

She was standing in a field when it happened. There were rolling hills all around her, covered in lush green grass and dotted with wild, summer flowers. The noise of bleating sheep in the distance could be heard as the wind blew through unseen wind chimes, making musical melodies float in the breeze.

Willow wasn't sure what she had been dreaming about, she only knew that she had been dreaming when she felt it, a sharp jolt run up her spine. It felt as if someone had tasered her right in the small of the back and the pain had travelled upward.

The first time it happened the redhead ignored it, leaning back in the tall grass and looking out over the fields. Everything was so rich with colour here; she didn't want to leave.

The second time she felt it she allowed the dream to slip away, vowing to come back again the next time sleep claimed her.

Opening her eyes, Willow found she had fallen asleep at the dining room table, head on her arms, books and folders of paper surrounding her. She sat straight up and looked around the room, instantly awake.

"Everything alright, Willow?" Giles asked from the other end of the table, where he sat sipping a mug of tea and leafing through an old volume, still diligently trying to find anything useable on Caleb and The First.

Something felt off.

"Willow?"

"Did someone poke me? Did someone wake me up?"

Giles looked startled, "You drifted off about twenty minutes ago. You and I were the only ones in the room."

"Then what woke me up?"

"Spike has a few of the Potentials in the basement for an evening training session, perhaps you heard-"

"No. It wasn't that."

And then she felt it again, this time it felt like someone had tugged on a rope that was attached to the base of her spine. It was a sharp and sudden pain, and Willow knew instinctively what it was.

"Giles, the wards!" On her feet in seconds, Willow flew to the front door and threw it open, looking out onto the front lawn. The sun hadn't set very long ago; the dim light around her was not dark enough to indicate the dead of night.

When her eyes adjusted to the minimal light Willow saw them, figures standing on the road in front of the house. "Giles?" she said uneasily, knowing the man was behind her.

"I see them too. Can they get in?"

"No, the barrier should hold them back."

"Should?"

Willow turned at Xander's voice. He, Kennedy and Molly stood in the doorway, stepping out to join Willow and Giles on the porch.

"They're testing it," the witch said, looking back at the Bringers. "The First must have sensed the magic, told them to see if they could get through."

"The First can do that?" Molly asked hesitantly.

Willow didn't look back at the younger girl, "Its old, its power is rooted in ancient magic. I bet it can feel any magical disturbance in the area. I could feel its darkness all the way in England."

"But they're just Bringers, right?" the carpenter questioned, laying a hand on Willow's shoulder. "They can't break through."

"It's not just the Bringers. Look, by the mailbox." Willow looked to where Kennedy was indicating.

_Oh, oh crap._

Three Turok-Han were huddled together, crouching menacingly. They were snarling slightly, their glowing yellow eyes staring unblinkingly at the group on the porch. One made eye contact with the redhead, bearing its feral teeth at her. Willow stared back just as forcefully, nervous but not wanting the creature to know. After a few long seconds it lunged forward, smashing the mailbox with one swipe.

"It's a good thing getting the mail delivered is the least of our worries, isn't it," Xander said, half-jokingly.

"Xander, now isn't the time," Giles said tensely.

The British girl still sounded scared, "Can they get through?"

Willow took a moment to think about how to answer, "They're vampires. Old, but still vampires. Which means they don't have any mystical connections with the ether."

"In English," Xander sighed.

"I… I don't think so," she said, looking at her friends. "So long as they don't start… testing its power, it should hold. If… if they, I guess the best way to word it would be if they scratch at it for long enough, it might rip. And there's a chance I wouldn't be able to fix it fast enough."

"Meaning they can get in," Kennedy growled.

"I-I didn't say that. I-" Her head whipped back towards the agents of The First; one of the übervamps had hurled itself towards the invisible barrier. Willow felt the power ripple in response. "Okay, if they keep that up they're going to wear me out. I won't be able to hold it if they push back against its power."

The group watched as another of the ancient vampires, snarling with fury, attacked the barrier. It was thrown back a few steps, but looked relatively unharmed and royally pissed off.

Willow frowned, all too aware of how much was riding on her to keep the ward up to protect everyone.

"S-should we go and get Buffy?" Molly asked, already turning back towards the door.

"No!" Willow insisted immediately, her voice harsh. "We can't wake them up. Even if they do break through, we can't-"

"Willow-" Giles started.

"No," she repeated. "If we wake them up they'll wake up _wrong._ They have to come back on their own." She turned to look at her friends fully, putting her back to the demons. "I don't care whether you guys wanted to do this or not. It's done. Buffy and Faith have to wake up on their own."

The Englishman tried again, "Willow, if the Turok-Han break through, the Slayers are the only ones that can hold them off. We need them here, now."

"Hey," Kennedy sounded insulted, "I thought I did just fine last night, saving their asses."

"You got a lucky break last night," Giles scoffed. "Even with all the Potentials fighting, we are no match for their power."

_We need to stop arguing,_ Willow thought desperately. Everyone's emotions were affecting her focus; every time someone raised their voice Willow could feel her hold on her magic slipping. Her power was woven into her being, tangled with her feelings. If she got too emotional, she could end up letting go of the warding. Or worse.

_There could be black hair involved._

"You guys, please, we-"

Kennedy was suddenly moving, shoving Willow to the right. The pair impacted the railing and Willow let a grunt of pain as her ribs collided with the hard wood. "Ow, Kenn, what-?" Her eyes followed where everyone else was looking. A Bringer's knife was implanted in the doorframe, having sailed right through where Willow had previously been standing.

_Oh. Well then…_

"You okay?"

The redhead nodded mutely, not trusting her voice.

"Willow, I thought they couldn't attack us!" Xander insisted, glaring towards where the Bringers and übervamps were standing at the end of the driveway.

"T-t-the warding is to stop p-people and demons from getting through," Willow stuttered, flushed with a combination of fear and embarrassment, "I… I don't know if I have enough… power… to completely stop physical objects from getting though. It isn't a force field, Xander."

She had stopped herself from saying control. A stronger ward would need more power, yes, but it would also need more control. Something that, at this moment, Willow doubted she had. But voicing this would only make things worse.

"So use more power!"

Rather than feeling herself grow angry, Willow grew upset at her oldest friend's words. She bit down on her lip, forcing the pout to stay back. They were counting on her, she knew this, but at this point she could be considered just as dangerous as what she was trying to keep the house safe from. Xander yelling and pressuring her wasn't helping.

A sharp twinge of her magic made Willow look back at the barrier; all three of the übervamps had thrown themselves simultaneously at the ward, savagely trying to scratch their way through. The magic held, but Willow could feel the strain on her resources. She eased her magic outward, strengthening the barrier where the demons had attacked it, not wanting a small seam to form where they could get their claws in.

"I'm getting Buffy."

Willow grabbed his arm, "Xander, if you wake them up something could seriously go wrong!"

"And you'd rather we all stand here helplessly while you chant hocus pocus?"

That hurt. A lot.

Willow glared at him, feeling the anger start to bubble up. He of all people should know how hard this was for her.

_It's like they forget! They honestly don't remember how bad it was, how bad _I _was. He was there; doesn't he remember I tried to kill him because he got in my way?_

_I need to calm down,_ Willow though, feeling the magic inside her flare up at the stray emotions. Anger was a strong feeling. Anger was something deeply intertwined with her powers and the darkness inside her. If she let herself become frustrated and mad with her friend's words, she was going to slip up and get them all hurt.

She hadn't realized how long she had been having a stare-down with Xander, but Molly's hesitant, "What should we do?" brought her out of it.

"Make sure all the girls inside are safe. Anyone who can fight should stay out here with me, just in case."

Giles was looking sternly at her, almost disapprovingly. But she was the one with the magic. He may be default In-Charge Guy when Buffy was gone because he was the Watcher and had years of experience on them; but she was currently the only thing keeping them safe right now. Which meant _she_ was the one calling the shots.

Faith and Buffy couldn't be woken up, not under any circumstances. Xander didn't know she'd warded the door to Buffy's room, but seeing as how the Bringer's weapons could break through, Xander would most likely assume he could bang the door down by throwing a chair at it.

And Willow didn't want to think about having to fight to keep both wards up at the same time.

Xander and Giles both went inside, Giles saying he was going to make sure the Potentials were all safe, Xander grumbling about weapons.

Another Bringer's knife sailed through the air, wedging itself in one of the posts supporting the roof over the porch. "I can't tell," Kennedy said, "if they have really bad aim, or really good aim. Are they trying to scare us, or actually hit us?"

"I've stopped wondering how they can do that without eyes," Molly whispered.

Willow blocked out their voices. She didn't close her eyes, she kept them open and facing the enemy, but she focused inward. The pool of magic inside her was agitated and restless. Taking the raw power, she sent out a wave of energy at her barrier, strengthening it. It rippled in response, thickening and solidifying against another attack.

"They look like their waiting for something."

Willow glanced over at the familiar voice. "Dawn, you should be inside."

"Dani wanted to see what was going on. She… didn't quite freak out, not like before. But she knew something was up."

Sure enough, Faith's twin was standing on Dawn's other side, looking attentively at the enemy on the other side of the ward. "They're just the king's horses, not the king's men," she said.

"Dawn, keep her inside, please." Willow insisted.

The younger Summers complied, ushering Dani back inside. When the door closed Willow breathed a sigh of relief. Both Buffy and Faith were upstairs; if they woke up and one of their sisters was injured… Willow didn't want to be around for that.

"What's that?"

"Where?"

Molly pointed, "Those… shadowy things. Over by that house. They're… they're moving."

"I don't see anything," Kennedy scoffed.

The British girl jabbed her finger insistantly, "Over there."

"What's out where?" Giles asked, leading a few other bodies outside. He, Xander, Spike, Rona, Vi, and Minh all stood with an assortment of weapons, Vi handing a stake and knife to the two Potentials already outside.

_So this is our army? A vampire, a witch, two human men, and five human girls. _

_Don't think about how badly this looks. Focus on what's trying to break through._

"Dawn and Dani?" She asked Giles.

"Um, yes, Anya is watching them and the other girls, keeping them calm."

"Oh, I bet she's keeping them calm alright," Kennedy laughed. "Some of them are probably already crying."

"Kennedy," Giles sounded agitated, "If you cannot contribute anything useful, you are free to go inside."

"And miss this? Hell no. I plan on killing a bloodsucker tonight."

"I'd rather not," Vi whispered meekly.

"Hey, uh, are any of you aware of the big movin' black things over there?" Rona asked.

And then Willow saw them. Dark, humanoid shadows that blended almost indistinguishably with the darkness of the night. They had long, thin arms and legs, and each had two horns on their head. They looked like silhouettes; pure black with no features.

"I told you something was there," Molly whispered.

"Those were down in the Hellmouth last night," Spike said tersely, "Helped knock us 'round a bit."

Minh's voice was soft, "What are they?"

"They're old," Willow said instinctively. She could feel them. Like how, when she was in England, she could feel The First's power growing. She could feel these things. They were old and dark and wrong.

"They're called Shades," Giles said, going into Watcher mode. "Willow is correct, they are old. They predate humans and most demons; they are even older than the Turok-Han. Demons so old they only have a basic developed form. They have no special adaptive features, for they ruled when there was little competition for prey."

Rona looked sceptical, "How do you know that's what they are?"

"The, ah, Watcher's Academy in England; well they were very well versed in their teachings. I remember these ones quite well; they were part of a course involving extinct and rarely sighed demon varieties. As well," he looked sheepish, "Well, threats involving the scarier and older demons were much more… enjoyable by the upperclassmen for scaring the younger students."

_Right. Giles was a regular old Joe Rebel in school._

The Englishman continued, "They feed on… well they feed on life. Their touch draws the life force out of you, leaving you a cold, dark shell, which they feed on as well."

"Didn't seem all that special last night."

"Well you aren't living, Spike. Therefore their power would have no true effect on you. On a human however…"

_They're going to make it through._

_My magic won't be strong enough to stop them. _

_They have power, I can feel it. Ancient power demons today don't have. Something I'm not strong enough to block out._

_This… this is bad._

The Scoobies spread out on the porch and on the lawn; all looking edgy and afraid of what was going to happen. Spike managed to still look casual, smoking a cigarette as if he wasn't about to face pure evil. Xander was off to Willow's left, still mumbling about wanting to get the Slayers.

Willow stood at the base of the porch, eyes directed ahead of her and arms hanging loosely at her sides, fingers spread, feeling the energy crackle around her. She wouldn't be able to stop the Shades from getting inside, she knew that. But if a fight broke out, the whole barrier could come down.

The first of the hunching, humanoid demons drew closer to the invisible line. The redhead felt a chilling darkness sweep over her the moment it came in contact with her ward, feeling like someone had doused her with a bucket of ice cold water. Its power was seeping through her connection with her magic right into her being.

It was through.

The witch didn't hesitate, didn't look to see her friend's reactions upon its entrance. A strong wave of her arm and a murmured ancient word and she felt her magic shoot forward, impacting the demon.

It continued towards her, not slowed down in the slightest.

The other three followed eagerly and the übervamps and Bringers grew restless, angered that they couldn't follow.

The witch drew up more power and flung it outward, the rest of the world blocking out as she focused only on stopping the demons. She could feel the evil seeping out of the creatures moving closer, their featureless faces directed towards her. Despite their lack of mouths, Willow had the feeling if they could be they'd be snarling at her.

The air around her cracked and her hair whipped as she let out another wave of power, this time strong enough to knock the Shades to the ground. She felt a sweat building on her brow; dividing her power between holding the barrier and fighting the demons was taking its toll on her. The pool of power inside her was draining too fast for her comfort.

She wouldn't be able to do both for much longer.

The shadow-like demons were on their feet again, one breaking free of the group and rushing towards her.

Someone shouted her name; someone moved to help her.

Without looking away from the creatures moving in slow motion towards her Willow flung one arm out to the side, releasing a burst of magic to block whoever was next to her that was trying to help; they would only get in the way. There was a loud popping sound; that last move being rooted on the magic of the earth and air elements around her. It had been a habitual motion, her body recognizing the greater amount of untapped power around her than within her.

She hardly took notice of the black film spreading to cover her eyes as the coils of magic burst out from inside her once more and blasted into the demons. The darkness inside her was taking over now that she was almost completely without power to fight back against it.

Willow felt everything around her fluctuate for a moment, a rippling wave of distortion as the barrier fell away. The Bringers and übervamps attacked, knowing immediately when they were no longer blocked from their prey.

The people around her moved too, meeting the demons half way across the yard. She had yet to look away from the Shades as – again - they moved to attack her. Her hair and jacket swirled in the wind she was creating around her. She smirked as another ripple of power radiated from within her and into the demons, blasting them with enough darkness to compete with the evil they were made from.


	42. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

"Well this is eventful. Where are we?"

Faith looked around her at their surroundings. "No idea. Part of a city somewhere?"

The pair was standing in the middle of an empty road, with darkened business style buildings on either side of the street. It was dark out, the cloud-concealed moon giving off only a faint glow up above.

"This is _your_dream."

"Yeah, doesn't mean I know where I am."

"Oh, look, I see you!" Buffy bounced up and down like a child, pointing further down the road. Sure enough, the dream-Faith had just turned a corner and was bolting down the street as fast as she could. "What are you running from?"

"No idea. I never saw it. Let's go, we're gonna lose her – me." She broke off into a fast paced run, Buffy right behind her. The followed the dream-Faith as she made her way through the deserted streets trying to escape whatever she was running from.

Buffy was looking over her shoulder periodically as they followed the other Faith. "I can hear it," she said, "what's following you. But I can't actually see anything." She glanced forward at the same moment dream-Faith turned suddenly to run down an empty alleyway. "Oh, brilliant move," she said with heavy sarcasm as the sound of a trashcan falling over erupted in the silence. "Way to tell it exactly where you are."

"You done criticizing me? Come on," Faith insisted, following where her dream-self had run. They turned the corner and found dream-Faith climbing the straight-ladder hanging down from the fire-escape on the side of one of a building.

"What happens next," Buffy asked, looking up at the fleeing Faith.

"I… I think I break through one of the doors to get inside."

"So… we have to climb up after you?" she asked, clearly not liking the idea.

"No… i-it won't work. I slam the door after me. We won't be able to get up fast enough."

"So, Obi Wan, how do we get inside?"

Faith approached the side of the building, laying her hand on the cool, dark bricks. _This is my dream, isn't it? So… can I…?_ she pressed her hand into the exterior wall, and after a moment it seemed to sink inside the brickwork. _Wicked!_

"B, this way," she called as she stepped through the wall and into the building.

_Right. The motel._ She was standing inside her old Sunnydale motel room. Buffy pushed through the wall and stepped into the room next to her. "Well that was…" she noticed where they were, "freaky. This… this is your old motel room."

"Yeah. Carpet stains and all."

"And where are…" Dream-Faith clamoured through the door, slamming it behind her. "Ah, there you are." They watched as the dream version of Faith caught her breath and then moved towards the bathroom. Buffy followed immediately, Faith hung back a few steps.

"Faith?"

"I've already seen it. There's not a whole lot of room for the three of us," she lied.

She just really didn't want to witness it again, listening to Dani plea for her help while she stood there stupidly. Standing in the doorway, she watched Buffy look in the mirror.

"Wow. I…" Buffy said, staring at the split-image of Faith in the mirror. One half her younger self, the other her current self. "I didn't realize how much older you look now."

"Oh, thanks."

"I wasn't insulting you," Buffy insisted. "I'm just saying, looking at the two halves, you can see that you've grown up."

"That isn't me."

"What?"

Faith nodded towards the mirror, where it had begun speaking to dream-Faith. "That's Dani, not me."

"Oh," Buffy whispered quietly.

"_I'm not you, Faith. You know who I am."_

Dream-Faith looked very confused. "_I do?"_ she asked the girl in the mirror.

"Oh my God, there are too many of you to look at," Buffy whispered to herself. "It's hurting my head."

Faith shushed her, "B. Listen. It's important."

"_It's coming, Faith. The darkness. It comes from deep inside the ground. You have to be ready."_

"_What?" _

"_Save them, Faith, while you still can."_

"Is she talking about the Potentials?"

"No idea," Faith shrugged, turning away from the discussion. She remembered this part of the dream very well; it was where Dani was begging Faith to rescue her. She really didn't want to hear it again. She walked back into the main room, looking around in boredom waiting for the dream to move forward. Eventually her dream-self exited the bathroom and sat down on the bed, inspecting the state of the room. Buffy followed her and stood next to Faith.

"That was intense."

"Yeah," Faith replied dully. Then, after a moment, "You won't like this part."

"Oh?"

"I remember this. You aren't going to like it."

"What? Why? Why won't I-"

"_Faith."_

Buffy whirled around at the sound of her own voice. Her jaw dropped when she saw another version of herself standing in the middle of the room. "_I'm_ in your dream?"

Dream-Faith had dropped the piece of fruit she had been holding, _"Christ, B. You scared the shit outta me."_

"_I can see that. But I think you mean I scared the apples out of you." _The dream-Buffy sneered.

"I'm a bit of a bitch in your dream," Buffy stated calmly, staring in wonderment at her double.

Faith squeezed her eyes shut a moment, not looking forward to what was going to happen next. It wasn't like she _chose_ for Buffy to be nasty to her in her dream, it just happened that way. She didn't want to see the blonde's reaction to just how bitchy her dream-self became.

"_Any particular reason you're here, B? Last I remember you didn't really like this place."_

"_Well, it seemed li – I wouldn't eat that if I were you."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Watch out, the backyard's teeming with them."_

Dream-Faith immediately dropped the apple in her hand, which had begun bleeding at Buffy's words. It dropped to the floor and the crimson liquid continued to seep from inside it.

"This is what you remembered, when the house was attacked."

"Yeah. Xand dropped an apple while we were at the store, it triggered me remembering this."

"Well I'm glad you did."

"Don't get too happy."

Buffy looked curiously at her, "Why?"

Faith sighed, "Just… just watch."

"_So, what are you doing here?"_ the dream-Faith asked.

"_You mean you, what are _you_ doing here. I've always been here; you're the one that's come back."_ The blonde shrugged before continuing, not bothering to hide the venom in her voice. _"We don't need you back, you know. I mean, it's nice of you to come back and all. But we don't need you. I'm handling things just fine on my own."_

"_If you're doing so hot, why'd I feel the need to come back?"_

Buffy had opened her mouth to say something to Faith, but the dream blonde continued, _"Because, Faith, you're like a puppy. We tell you to leave, but you keep coming back. I could beat you with a roll of newspaper and you'd still come back."_

Buffy's hand flew to cover her open mouth, appalled at her counterpart's words.

"_That hurt, B," _The dream-Faith said quietly.

The other girl's voice was rising with anger, _"So did you stealing my body, screwing my boyfriend, and trying to take over my life. Oh, and remember you joining the Mayor, poisoning Angel, and all around trying to kill us? That hurt too, Faith. You had your chance. You ruined it. I don't need you here."_

"_I was messed up, Buffy. I'm-"_

"_Making excuses. You tried to kill me Faith, sorry if I'm a little bitter."_

"_Yeah, but I was the one with the knife through the gut."_

The dream version of the older Slayer took a threatening step forward, "_I'm done with you Faith. Go home. Go back to Angel. Go back to prison. I don't care what you do, but don't stay here. I can't deal with your crap right now."_

"_Look, Buffy, I know I hurt you; I hurt all of you. But I'm trying to make up for it, I'm trying to-"_

The venom dripping from the dream-Buffy's voice was almost visible, "_I told you once before, Faith,"_ she spat. _"Apologize to me, and I will beat you. To death. We clear?"_

"Oh my God," the real Buffy whispered to herself. "Faith, I-"

The Slayer was cut-off by a blood-curdling screaming coming from outside. It made all four Slayers jump in surprise.

While the dream-Buffy instructed the dream-Faith to go outside and look for the source of the screaming, Buffy spoke over her, "Faith… I…"

"It's fine, B. It's just a dream."

"I still feel guilty. Oh my God, no wonder you didn't want to come back to Sunnydale."

"Buffy-"

"Is that… is that how I come off to you?" The blonde whispered, looking like she didn't want to know the answer.

"That was the old you, B. The girl that was pissed at me for ruining her life."

Buffy still looked miserable, ashamed of the words that weren't hers. "I… I'm not her anymore," she said quietly. "I, God, I'm not mad at you anymore, Faith."

"I know."

"And… and you still came back? After seeing this?"

Faith shrugged, not really sure how to reply. "Red said you needed me." Her counterpart was out the door and running by now, "Come on, we can't lose her." She took off after the dream-Faith.

Buffy kept pace with her, "The screaming?"

"Don't remember," she said as they followed her double into the forest on the edge of the highway.

The ground under their running feet shook, causing the three Slayers to stumble. The dream-Faith landed hard on her hands and knees, cursing in pain. The real Faith staggered forward, bracing herself against a tree-trunk to keep from falling. Buffy tripped over a tree root and landed painfully on her stomach.

"Ow," the blonde hissed in pain, "You could have warned me."

"Yeah… I didn't remember that."

"What was it?" Buffy asked, picking herself up and rubbing her front delicately, soothing the pain.

"Hell if I know. Let's go, she's moving again," she nodded to where the other girl had taken off in a slow jog.

"The screaming stopped," Buffy said as she moved after Faith.

A few strides later Faith stopped short, causing Buffy to nearly run into her from behind. The dream-Faith had stopped in the middle of a clearing, staring up at a rather large tree that was being consumed by thick red-orange flames. It was a beautiful sight, despite the morbidity of the situation. Faith could feel the heat from the flames warming her skin.

"Wow." Was all the blonde Slayer said when the fire had burned itself out. Then, "Oh, my," as little green buds began erupting all over the charcoal-singed branches.

"B," Faith said, nodding behind them.

Buffy turned, following Faith's line of sight. She jumped slightly at the sight of an unknown woman approach the tree. "Who's that?"

"You know, you got pissy with me when I was the one asking the questions during your little pow-wow down memory lane."

Buffy ignored her, watching the woman as she stopped to stand beside the dream version of Faith. _"It's like the phoenix, isn't it?"_

Faith smirked at herself, literally, as the other her jumped nearly a foot in the air and immediately dropped into a defensive crouch, sizing up the stranger.

"_On, none of that. I'm not someone you should be worried about."_

"She's holding the axe." Buffy said, speaking over the old woman. Sure enough, just as Faith remembered, the frail looking woman in her faded green tunic was holding their mystery weapon in one hand. The red handle and silver of the blade glimmered in the sunlight peeking through the canopy of leaves, the wood of the stake at the bottom end looked polished and ready to do major damage.

Faith watched as her other-self continued to look defensive against the strange, old woman. _"Were you the one screaming?"_

"_I didn't hear anyone screaming."_

"What, is she deaf?" Buffy asked sceptically.

"_Earlier, it sounded like someone was calling for help."_

"_They weren't calling for my help, Faith, so I couldn't hear them. Whoever they were, they were calling for you. Unless… maybe it was you calling for help."_

"Cryptic," Faith scoffed, not able to get anything more out of what the woman had said then when she'd originally had the dream.

"Now that's a Slayer dream line if I've ever heard of one," Buffy said thoughtfully, studying the woman intently, as if trying to memorize everything she was seeing, "Giles will love it."

"_Who are you exactly?"_

"_A shepherd of sorts, I guard and watch over things very old. I am someone who makes sure things go according to plan; make sure the proper bees move up the line in the hive. I am one of many."_ The woman stepped back and appraised the dream-Faith with her eyes, _"I'm always surprised how adolescent you are. All of you, so infantile. None of you are ever prepared."_

"Does she know you're a Slayer?"

"Thinkin' so, yeah."

"_But you, Faith,"_ the woman continued, _"are powerful. Winning is up to you. Take hold of the power given to you."_

"Maybe she's a Watcher."

"I'm dreaming about dead Watchers now?"

"It's possible. I mean… she doesn't _look_ much like a Watcher, but I guess it's possible." Buffy stepped closer to the woman but didn't bring herself close enough to touch. "Obviously she knows something. 'Take hold of the power given to you?' Doesn't that sound more like something you'd say to a brand new Slayer? Or a Potential maybe? And that's exactly what the First Slayer said to me. We already know we're Slayers, what other power is there?"

"Beats me. You went to college, you tell me."

"My Psych class was run by a power-hungry military scientist, not exactly the great collage experience. I think my guess is as good as yours."

The woman held up the axe in her hand, _"I see it has caught your attention. It's very special."_

"_It's an axe. A fancy looking one, but it's still an axe. Not that special."_

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Oh, eloquent. At least I knew right away it was important. Just an axe? Clearly it isn't _just_ an axe."

The brunette bumped her shoulder against the blonde's, "You want to hear what she has to say or not?"

"_It's a weapon, a powerful one. Go on, take it. You'll put it to good use."_

"_It's not mine."_

"_It can be. It's not yet anyone else's. You shouldn't deny it."_

Buffy was now giving the stranger a suspicious look, "Points to you for not taking it. We don't know whose it is or what it is. Or what it can do."

"Hey, I'm a dropout, not a dumbass. Don't take candy from strangers or whatever, right?"

The pair watched as the old woman held out the weapon for the dream-Faith. When she didn't take it, the woman nearly shoved it into the Slayer's hands. The girl jumped back, putting some distance between herself and the old woman.

"_You have to learn who to trust, Faith. You know you cannot trust yourself."_

"Yeah," Faith laughed, "Because that's totally the way to get me to take something from you."

"Faith," Buffy asked, glancing around, "Where'd the forest go?"

While they had been watching the interaction in front of them they hadn't notice the setting of the dream had changed once again. Now the pair was standing in the middle of a desert, with Faith's double and the old woman standing near the edge of a cliff. The deep and lush greens of the wood had been replaced with dull browns and reds of the dry sand they were standing on.

The elder woman drew herself closer to the dream-Faith, whispering, _"It's a test Faith, and right now you're not passing."_

Faith felt a swift wave dread come over her. She knew what happened next, remembering how the dream ended. She didn't want Buffy to see this. This was something she didn't want anyone to see. It was something she wanted to take and bury along with all her other painful memories; bury them so deep they would never resurface again.

She backed up a few paces, causing her companion to look at her, "What?"

"Come on, it's over."

"Faith, the dream is still going on. We can't leave."

"Don't worry about it," the younger Slayer insisted. "We just keep arguing about the axe." She reached and grabbed Buffy's arm, trying to pull her away.

"Faith, let go! We have to see the whole dream. We can't miss anything." Buffy broke free of her grasp, jogging a few steps to put some distance between them. "Faith, this is important!"

The brunette ran a shaky hand through her hair, knowing she wouldn't be able to move the other girl.

She didn't want to have to see it again.

"_Take the scythe, Faith." _The woman urged; the wind around her beginning to pick up and toss her thin, white hair around her face.

"_I can't!"_ The other Faith replied, backing further away from the woman and closer to the edge of the cliff.

"What's wrong with her?" Buffy asked, eyes fixed on the woman. Her features were beginning to shift, her face and body beginning to transform into something new. The white hair grew darker and thicker; the wrinkles around her eyes receded and became covered with dark makeup. The green tunic transforming into leather boots and a skimpy dress. The woman's kind, wise eyes gave way to angered, bloodshot ones.

"Faith, what's going on?"

The Slayer couldn't reply. Just like her dream self was doing now, just like she had when she'd first experienced the dream, she'd felt terror grip her, freezing her body to the spot. She couldn't look away now.

"_You could never do anything right, could you?" _the new woman asked, raising the axe over her head, her intent to bring it down upon Faith clear in the anger reflected on her features.

Buffy gasped.

Both Faith's screamed. The dream-Faith in fear, the real Faith in rage.

The fury at her mother exploded from somewhere deep inside her. All the pain, all the neglect, all the suffering, all the torment she'd been put through as a child living under Lara Lehane's roof bubbled up inside Faith to the point where she couldn't control herself. The absolute fear she'd always lived in crashed inside Faith like a tidal wave of emotions.

In slow motion she lunged towards her mother, in that moment she took control of her life; everything she'd ever been denied, all the hurt she'd ever felt, she wanted to make her mother feel it too. She wanted Lara to understand all that she'd put her daughters through.

Faith hadn't any rational thought in those long, stretched out seconds. Had she, she would have expected to impact her mother and tackle he to the ground, or at least to pass through the woman seeing as Faith was only a bystander in the dream. Neither happened.

The brunette Slayer felt a jolt of pain as she threw herself at her mother. The red hot heat that shot through her was gone almost instantaneously, leaving her sprawled on the ground on her hands and knees.

"Faith!" She felt the blonde's hands on her shoulders, encouraging her to sit up. Faith complied, leaning back on her heels, but kept her head tilted downwards, away from Buffy's inquisitive eyes.

"Faith, Faith you're shaking," Buffy said nervously. "She's gone. It's okay, she's gone."

"Fuck," Faith breathed out, feeling her throat closing up on her. Her whole body was shaking without her permission. She ran a hand through her hair, its little uncontrolled spasms causing her fingers to get tangled in her brown locks.

Buffy's fingers enclosed hers, pulling them from her hair. The blonde shifted so she was facing Faith, "Faith… what…?"

Feeling the bile rising inside her, Faith lurched to her feet and away from Buffy. She staggered a few steps, willing everything to stay inside her stomach. "Damn it," she said shakily.

They were alone. Both Lara and the other Faith had disappeared the moment Faith's body connected with her mother's.

"Faith?" Buffy asked hesitantly, seeming to understand that Faith needed space.

"I'm sorry," the brunette managed to get out, "I… I couldn't watch that again."

"She… she was going to hurt you," the other Slayer's voice was sympathetic. "That… that was your mother." It wasn't a question.

"Got it in one," Faith said, forcing a laugh. It felt flat and hollow, echoing in the emptiness that stretched out around them.

"My God, she…" the blonde had been rendered speechless.

Faith let her legs go limp, collapsing back down into the sand. Her dark eyes squeezed shut and her hands balled into fists. She would not cry in front of Buffy.

The blonde made her way over to Faith again, "Are you…?" she asked, stopping herself from asking 'are you okay;' which Faith was clearly not.

"I'm sorry."

"What? Why? She was going to hurt you – the other you. I'm not mad because of how you acted."

Faith shook her head, not looking at the other girl. "I… I changed it. T-the dream, it… it ended there last time."

"I don't understand."

The younger girl gestured around her, "This… this didn't happen. In the dream, I just let her… and it ended. I changed it. I interfered. We're… fuck, we're stuck here."

Buffy seemed to suddenly take this into consideration. "Oh."

"Yeah," Faith said lamely. She finally looked at Buffy, who was peering intently over Faith's shoulders. "What?"

Buffy frowned and shook her head, walking a few strides past Faith. Faith turned her head to follow the other girl's movements. The blonde bent down some feet away, picking up the axe.

"It's still here. She dropped it when you… What did the woman call it, the scythe?"

Faith shrugged, uninterested.

Buffy answered herself, "Yeah, I think that's what she called it. The scythe. I-It's warm. I can feel it; it feels hot under my fingers. It feels… powerful. Old. Like, really old."

"You got all that from a piece of metal?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Here."

She tossed the scythe to Faith, who caught it easily. Still sitting on the ground, Faith examined the weapon, focusing on it instead of her receding fear. Buffy was right, it did feel old. Everywhere her skin touched it she felt… a tug, a pull deep inside her.

_It belongs to the Slayer._ She wasn't sure where the thought came from, but the moment it came to her she couldn't deny it. The Slayer inside her recognized the weapon, reacting instantly to its power and claiming it as its own. She stood and tossed it back to Buffy, "It belongs to the Slayer. I can feel it. It's yours."

Buffy looked puzzled. "You're the Slayer, too."

The brunette shook her head, "Always been second fiddle to you. You're the leader. It's yours, you're _the_ Slayer."

Buffy walked towards the other girl, extending the scythe out in front of her. "If it belongs to the Slayer, then it belongs to both us, Faith. Come on, we can sha-"

The moment both Faith and Buffy were both in contact with the scythe everything swirled into darkness.


	43. September 30, 1996

_**September 30, 1996**_

A fourteen year old Faith tugged on her sister's arm as she ran them both up the stairs and turned down the hall, running into their room. She turned, slamming the door shut behind her. Then she sagged against the wood, breathing heavily and watching her twin sister.

Dani had plopped down on her bed and was silently trying to pull off her damp socks.

"I'm going to kill that Marcus kid," Faith grumbled, shaking her wet hair so drops of water flew in every direction.

Faith and Dani had been at this foster house – the Reed's – for two months now, and were still considered the new kids. Which meant, of course, that the other kids pranked, bullied, and all around got them in trouble whenever it was possible.

Marcus, who was only eleven, had said, "Isabel, come outside quick! I think a dog just got hit by the neighbour's car."

Faith and Dani, who had been on dish-duty after dinner, had come running.

Marcus had waited until they descended the front steps into the semi-darkness, looking onto the street for said dog, and then sprayed them with the hose.

Faith was going to kill that boy. She was going to break all of his chubby little fingers, chop off his stupid hair, and then kill him.

"But," Dani started, "That would be mean, wouldn't it?"

"Dan, he just sprayed us with the hose. How is that not mean? Here," she said, opening the chest at the foot of Dani's bed and passing the girl a new, dry dress. She opened her own chest and changed into a clean tee-shirt and shorts and took all the soiled and wet clothes and put them in the laundry.

Faith didn't like it here. There were too many rules in this house. Everyone has chores, clothes were kept clean and away, the foster children take turns saying Grace at dinner. Way too many rules.

"Well," Dani started but trailed off, looking towards the bookcase.

Faith glanced at the bookcase, didn't see anything wrong, and went about digging the comic books she'd _borrowed_ from Marcus and Liam's room out from under her bed. Mrs. Reed didn't believe in giving the children she fostered any money, even though they did chores for her like they were servants or something – didn't servants at least get wages? Liam, Faith was pretty sure, pick-pocketed whenever he could, and that was how he'd scored the money to buy the new comics. And he refused to let Faith touch them because she was a _girl_ and _girls_ didn't read _comic books._

So she'd borrowed them. Or taken them. Whatever. She'd give them back when she was done.

"Faithie," Dani called suddenly, her voice rising in pitch. "Faith, Faith, Faith!"

She lifted her head in response and bashed it against the bed frame she was currently wedged under, "Ow, damn it! What, Dan?"

And then Dani was shrieking.

Faith scurried out from under the bed and leapt to her feet, running the few steps to where her sister was sitting on her own bed. Her knees were drawn up near her chest, her hands balled into fists and pressing into the bed, and her head was thrashing back and forth with her eyes squeezed shut.

"Dan, shhh!" Faith whispered, placing a hand over her sister's mouth and hugging her close. "Dan, you have to be quiet."

The younger girl thrashed harder, kicking Faith away and backing up against the headboard. "Make it stop," she wailed.

"Dani, Dani please," Faith insisted, glancing over her should at the door before looking back at her sister, "Please, tell me what's wrong." She grabbed Dani's wrists, stopping the girl from pulling at her hair, "Dan, you have to calm down. Please."

This was the ninth time this had happened. Faith had been counting. It happened twice at the last house, and then kept happening after they'd been moved to the Reed's house. Dani would be perfectly fine one minute, and then the next she'd suddenly be screaming and crying about things Faith couldn't see.

The first time it happened Faith had had no idea what was going on. Something was gravely wrong with Daniela and Faith had no idea what she was supposed to do to help.

The best she'd done was try to keep Dani calm and quiet. Because Faith knew what would happen. Dani was already different. Dani thought slower and had trouble focusing and just wasn't quite right since she'd gotten hurt when she was younger. But if the foster families found out she was having freak-outs and seeing things that weren't there? Faith didn't want to think about just how badly that could turn out.

And she'd done her best, keeping Dani quiet when she had these moments, screaming and crying about things in her head that she couldn't put into words. But Mr. Reed had heard her the last two times and threatened to have Dani sent away if it happened again.

"Please, please, Dani, stay quiet," Faith begged, crawling onto the bed and trying to pull her sister close. Dani cried and fought back, trying to shove Faith away.

"No," she screamed. "No, don't! Don't go down there!"

"Dan, there isn't anyone there," Faith insisted, pushing back her own tears and fear. She rubbed up and down the younger girls arms, trying to calm her down. "There's nothing there, okay? No monsters, no bad things, there's nothing there. You have to stay quiet. _Please._"

"Tell them not to go!"

"Dani, there isn't anyone there."

"Tell them, tell them, you have to tell them! They can't do down there!"

"Tell who, Dan? Please, just tell me what's-"

"What the hell is going on?" Faith turned, wide-eyed. Mrs. Reed was standing in the doorway, that stupid pig-boy Marcus standing next to her. "What's wrong with her? Why the hell is she screaming like that?"

"I don't know," Faith replied, speaking over Dani's cries.

"Make it stop hurting them!" Dani shrieked and collapsed into tears, burying her face into Faith's lap.

"Who is she talking about?" Mrs. Reed asked, stepping into the room.

"I…" Faith started, "I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with her."

"It's nine thirty at night, tell her to stop that crying."

"She won't listen to me, something's wrong with her."

Dani continued to cry into Faith's lap, beating her fists against Faith's legs and sobbing out half broken sentences.

Mrs. Reed marched over and grabbed Dani by the arm, yanking her up into a sitting position, "Listen here, girl-"

Dani screeched as if she were being burned. Her body jerked backwards, trying to get away from the woman. "Make it stop hurting them! Make it stop make it stop make it _stop_!" She managed to pull out of the woman's grasp and turned, clinging onto Faith's side. "It hurts! It's hurting them! There's so much red, please, make it stop they don't want to die!"

Faith's hands were shaking as they came up to rub against Dani's back. She was looking down at her sister with wide, frightened eyes. Dani's attacks had never been this bad. Something… something was very wrong. "What…" she tried, "Dani, what's hurting who?"

"It's big and black and it wants to eat them!" Dani cried, pressing her face into Faith's shoulder. "Horns and claws and sharp, sharp bits to rip them up. There's red all over, make it stop!"

"I knew that girl was trouble the moment she walked in here," Mrs. Reed said, glaring down at Faith. "Screaming about things that aren't there. I've seen this before, completely lost her mind. Marcus," she snapped, addressing the boy at the front of the crowd of foster children standing in the doorway, "Go and get my husband from outside. I can't deal with this; needs to be locked away and put under heavy sedation."

"No," Faith yelled, hugging Dani close and ignoring the wet marks growing on her shirt where Dani was crying against her, "You can't do that!"

"Your sister has something very wrong in her head," the woman said lowly. "She needs to be taken away."

Dani sobbed louder, still lost in her own nightmare, "They're spilling all over! Snapping and crying and bleeding!"

Mrs. Reed shook her head, "She's as good as possessed by the devil. She can't stay here. She needs to be taken away."

"No!"

* * *

"Let me go!" Faith yelled, her body jerking and thrashing as she tried to get away. Mr. Reed was holding her at the base of the stairs, pulling her back against his hard chest and wrapping a strong arm around her middle. "You can't take her away from me!"

Mr. Reed was over six foot, and was big and muscular. He had no problems holding Faith's thin and lanky frame back as she beat against him, fingernails clawing into his arm and heels kicking into his shins.

Two people from Social Services had showed up a few minutes ago, just as Dani was finally calming down from her nightmarish panic attack. They were walking a still crying Dani down the hallway, towards the front door.

To take her away.

"Let me _go_," Faith screamed, her body shaking with desperate need to break free and go to her sister.

"Your sister's sick, Isabel. This is for her own good."

"They're going to lock her up!"

"She's sick in the head," the man's low grumble sounded in her ear.

Faith kicked harder at him, trying to break free, "They promised us we'd stay together. They told us, no matter what house they put us in, that we could stay together. She's my _sister!_"

One of the social workers stepped up just as Faith was going to bite her captor in the arm. "Sweetie," she said with a pitying voice, "You're sister need medical attention. She had a bad fall when she was younger, there might be residual damage. She's hallucinating and your foster parents can't take care of her…"

Faith shook her head back and forth, trying not to listen to the woman's words. She needed to be with Dani. She had to protect her sister. They couldn't take her away.

* * *

"You have to go with them," Faith whispered. Dani was sitting in the back of the Social Services car, legs dangling out over the driveway. Faith was crouching in front of her, hands on Dani's knees as she looked her sister in the eyes.

"I don't want to go," Dani whimpered. "Not without you." Her brown eyes were wide and full of tears.

"I-I know," Faith said, ignoring her own tears as they rolled down her cheeks, "But… you have to go. They're going to try and make you better."

"I'm not sick. They were there, I saw them!"

"Dan, no one else can see what you're seeing."

"They're there!"

"I know they are," Faith said quietly, "I believe you." She didn't know if it was a lie or not.

Dani slipped from the car and dropped down, draping her arms over Faith's shoulders and burrowing her face into Faith's neck. "I don't want to leave you."

"I know," Faith said thickly. "I know, I don't want to leave you either. But… Dani, there isn't anything I can do. They can help you, they can get you better." She paused for a moment, and then added, "They can protect you from the monsters you're seeing. They're going to take you to a special hospital and help you get better and keep you safe."

Dani squeezed her arms harder.

"I'll come and visit you, I promise. I promise. As often as they'll let me."

"Don't make me go," her sister cried softly, "Please, Faithie."

Faith squeezed her eyes shut and counted to five. Then she leaned back and stood up, pushing Dani away. She stood, holding her sister at arm's length. Her arms gripped Dani's shoulders tightly. "I'm sorry, Dan. I am. But I can't fix this. I don't know what to do."

"I want to stay with you," Daniela pouted, biting down hard on her lip. "I want to be with you."

"You can't. They, they won't let you stay with me. But I promise you, the minute I turn eighteen, the minute we're both eighteen, I'll get you out. I'll take you away."

Dani whimpered as a fresh wave of tears descended, "Promise?"

"I promise. When I'm eighteen, I'll be allowed to get you out, okay? It doesn't matter if I don't have a home, a job, a car, or any money. I'll come and get you." She pulled her sister into a tight hug, "Until then, you have to be brave, okay? They're going to take you somewhere you'll be safe, and you have to listen and do what they say and be a brave girl for me, okay Dan? Be strong. I'll come and visit you as much as I can. And when we're both eighteen we'll leave and you'll never have to go back. I'll come and get you and you'll be safe. But you have to go with them. Can you do that for me?"

Dani pulled back, looking into Faith's eyes. But she didn't speak.

"Daniela Hope, promise me you'll be good and strong and brave for me, okay? Until I can come and get you?"

Dani nodded her head sadly. Faith reached out and brushed her sister's tears from her cheeks. "That's my good girl. That's my sister."

"A-and you," Dani said quietly, "Faithie…" She closed her eyes for a moment, forcing her mind to become clear. "Isa-Isabel Faith…do… do you-" she hiccupped and started crying again.

"I promise, Dani. I'll come and get you. Nothing will stop me. The minute I'm eighteen, I'll take you away. I promise. I _promise._"


	44. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

The next morning found Willow in the kitchen, head cradled on the tops of her arms as she leaned on the bar counter.

"Here," Dawn said, placing a glass of orange juice next to the redhead, "Drink this."

Willow moaned without lifting her head. "Don't wanna move."

"Mom used to make chicken soup with stars for me when I didn't feel well. Do you want me to make you some?"

"It's nine in the morning," Willow said pitifully, "I don't want soup."

The witch lifted her head and glanced at the orange juice, right away feeling the bile rising in her throat. Holding back the gag she turned away; she didn't want any food right now. She just wanted to be left alone.

Unfortunately, in a house with over twenty teenage girls, being left alone was near impossible.

She had nearly passed out on the lawn the night before, letting her magic levels drop so low she could barely stand. She had been drained to the point of exhaustion, so weak it had been extremely difficult to fight back against the darkness inside her. Normally, her magic reserves, meditative control, and sheer force of will were how she fought back against losing herself like she had a year before. But without any of those it was nearly impossible to stop the dark magic inside her from turning her into a vein-y, black haired, black eyed she-bitch.

Thankfully, she had been so exhausted, mentally, physically, and magically that she _had_ passed out right as she stepped through the doorway back into the house, still in the process of making the blackness over her eyes fade.

She woke up on a cot in Dawn's room hours later when the teen, stealthily trying to get dressed in the morning without waking her, had stubbed her toe on the dresser and then, while cursing, ended up stepping on and tripping over the redhead.

Not a nice way to wake up after you pass-out from shear magical fatigue.

Now the redhead was in the kitchen nursing a headache the size of a very grumpy elephant; the after-effects of using so much magic. She'd been awake only an hour and had already had two nose bleeds, a dizzy spell, and a lovely date with the toilet bowl.

The redhead was not in a very pleasant mood.

"Are you going to drink it?"

Willow blanched at the thought, "I'll pass."

Dawn frowned, but took the glass and drank it for herself. "Mmm, yellow, sunshine-y goodness. Perfect for a magical hangover."

"Dawnie, please. I'm going to be sick again."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Make everyone in the house leave the city so I can suffer through this headache in peace?"

"Yeah, I don't think I'm in a position to do that. Might get in trouble if I suddenly make everybody hit the road. My sister would probably get mad. She'd end up like, pissing rocks or something equally gross."

"Thank you so much for that imagery."

The sound of gentle padding feet, which sounded more like battle drums to Willow, made the redhead turn but not lift her head. Daniela happily skipped into the room, humming cheerfully. Her face fell when she saw Willow with her head down, "Not feeling good?"

"Just the magic, it will get better."

"Did you want breakfast, Dani?"

She nodded, "Grapes."

"That's it? Just… just grapes?"

"Yep."

Dawn looked sceptical but didn't argue, and instead began rooting in the bottom of the fridge for the bag of grapes. "I'm pretty sure they weren't eaten yet…"

"Remind me," Willow began, "To thank Anya the next time I see her for getting the Potentials outside so fast this morning."

Dawn giggled, "What's she even doing with them? It's not like she's an expert on fighting."

"I think she was just taking pity on me," the redhead let her eyes close. "They were _so loud_."

As Dani and Dawn munched on the grapes Willow enjoyed the near-silence of the house. There were still people inside making noise, and she could hear the girls in the backyard, but it was better than it had been before, for which she was grateful.

And then Xander, Andrew, and Giles stomped into the room and the redhead whimpered. She didn't bother to listen to what they were saying, instead trying to block them out as much as possible. She wasn't very successful.

"The front window is officially boarded up now, ladies. Meaning no more tossing Bringers through the glass."

"And scaring the living crap out of everyone inside! You put us in a panic!"

"Whatever, Andrew."

"Xander, I already informed you it was Spike's doing; go and argue with him. However, do you think its best we have the window sealed off?"

Xander sounded aggravated, "Why? It means I don't have to fix it anymore until all this is over."

"Yes, but that window is a primary…"

Dawn's voice was gentle next to her, "Why don't you try going back to sleep? Or meditate? Don't you do that when your magic is low?"

Willow considered the idea. She felt more like crawling into a dark corner and not leaving for a few months, but mediation sounded like a good plan; some nice, light, easy, non-magically-painful mediation. And maybe a bubble bath.

"Actually, I think tha-" The room spun violently around her and Willow had to grab the countertop to keep from falling over with dizziness.

Dawn griped her shoulder tightly to keep her from losing her seat, "Willow?"

Everything righted itself a moment later, only to start spinning again. The strong tugging inside her told Willow it wasn't her headache, it was her magic. The barrier to her bedroom had just been opened.

"They're awake," both she and Dani said at the same time.

"What?" Giles asked, looking over at the redhead.

"I felt the barrier open, from the inside out. Buffy and Faith are awake." She looked at Dani, "How did you know that?"

"Don't know. I just… did."

"Alright, the Buffster's awake. How about we all run upstairs and-"

"Xander, I think it'd be better if we let them come down themselves. They're probably feeling a little disoriented." _Like me._

"Oh, come on. Hugs never hurt anyone."

_I beg to differ. If you hugged me right now I'd probably lose whatever is left in my stomach._

"Hey guys," Buffy said from the doorway a few moments later. Faith appeared next to her. Willow sat up fully and turned in her seat to face them; they both looked a little tired and weakened from the physical drain the intense dreaming would have taken on their bodies. Dani immediately bounced over to hug her sister, but moved back afterwards; seeming to sense that Faith was worn-out.

"Hello Buffy, Faith, how was your dream sleep thing?" Andrew asked. "And… where did the axe come from."

Willow's focus moved to the shiny red weapon that was dangling loosely next to the blonde's leg. At Andrew's address she held it up for everyone in the room to see.

"Is that the weapon you mentioned earlier?" Giles asked, "The one the First Slayer was carrying?"

"Sure is. She called it the scythe."

"The First Slayer?"

"Uh… no. The lady in Faith's dream."

"And," Dawn raised her eyebrows, "How exactly did it go from inside your head to into your hands?"

"Not really sure. It was there when we woke up."

"That is quite interesting, displacing objects during astral projection. It must be of great significance to you if you were able to move it."

"We think it belongs to the Slayer, that might have made it easier for us to move," Buffy continued. "It feels… powerful. It's making a little humming in my head. And the Slayer in me is restless, like she recognizes it."

"It has a mystical power source?"

"I don't really know, Giles," Buffy insisted, "We didn't really get a whole lot of information about it. Just, 'take hold what is yours.' And 'it belongs to you.' And then the minute we both were touching it, poof, back in awake-land. It's definitely got some magical mojo though; think you're up for taking a look, Wills?"

Willow tried very hard not to flinch at the thought. Her eyes did squeeze shut a moment before she nodded, fighting another wave of dizziness.

"Red, are you okay?" This from Faith.

The witch nodded again, "Fine. I'm only tired."

Both Slayers studied her intently. Faith looked concerned, Buffy looked curious. The blonde then glanced around the room at everyone else, questioningly. "What happened?"

"Nothing, Buffy, everything is quite-"

"What happened while we were asleep?" Her voice was clipped.

"Just a bit of a magical battle," Xander offered, "No big deal."

"No big deal? The house gets attacked and you say _no big deal_?"

"No one got hurt. Well," Andrew tried to clarify, "bruises and cuts maybe, but we clearly came out victorious."

"Why didn't you wake us up?"

"Hey, don't look at me. I was all for waking the Slayers." Xander pointed a thumb at Willow, "She was the one who insisted we do it alone."

Willow wasn't even sure she had the energy to argue back.

"You guys, don't get mad at Willow," Dawn tried to stay calm. "She didn't want Buffy and Faith to wake up with scrambled eggs for brains."

"Which is appreciated," Faith said, now standing next to Willow. During the argument she had casually made her way over to the redhead, and was now standing beside, her leaning back on the bar counter. "You sure you're okay?" she whispered lowly.

The witch nodded. Her eyes fluttered closed in relief as the brunette Slayer's fingers lightly brushed against her back, offering comfort. The redhead forced her lids open again, not want to draw attention to herself, but she leaned back into the other girl's touch, basking in the feather-light caresses. Faith had a way of making whatever was wrong go away.

The core Scoobies were still at ends. "Look, I'm glad no one got hurt. But I'm just not sure I like the idea of you guys being without both Slayers in a fight."

"Need I remind you the dream-walk was your idea?"

"Giles-"

Willow spoke up, "It's not as bad as it sounds, Buffy. The barrier held as long as it could. And I'm the one that took most of the damage, keeping it up and holding them back as long as I did. I'm only out of it because my magic slipped so low." Buffy still looked tense. "Why don't we just leave it, okay?" the witch continued, "It all turned out alright here, and you and Faith had your dream and brought back some information, right?" Faith's fingers swirled on her back in encouragement.

Buffy launched into a recap of the dreams, "We went through mine first. First we were at The Bronze; Caleb was there. He was looking for something, but he wouldn't tell us what. But I got that it was pretty important, probably something powerful enough to tip the playing stakes."

"Your scythe, perhaps?"

"Maybe," the blonde addressed Faith, "What did he say, whatever he was looking for had everything to do with us, but he wanted to find it first?"

"Sounds right."

"And then after The Bronze we met with the First Slayer-"

"After walkin' through the orange trees."

Buffy looked un-amused at her sister Slayer, "Thank you for mentioning that."

"Buff," Xander smirked, "You dreamt about oranges?"

"Can we move on? The oranges weren't important. Anyway, we talked with her, we were able to see the whole dream; it didn't just end where I had woken up. She had a lot to say…"

Willow tuned Buffy out unintentionally, the room was starting to do lazy circles around her again. "Hey, you okay?" Faith asked quietly in her ear, low enough for no one else in the room to notice.

"Just weak. I haven't felt this drained for… a long, long time. Not since… not since right after Tara," Willow replied just as quietly without looking away from the group, knowing Faith could hear her with her enhanced hearing.

"You gonna be okay?"

"Mmm, just give me a few hours. I bounce back. Relatively. I'm glad you guys made it out okay, too."

Glancing around the room, she caught Dawn's eye. The little brunette was giving her a curious expression. She let her eyes drop to Willow's hip, where Faith's hand was currently resting. Dawn tilted her head to the side ever so slightly, analyzing. After a moment she looked away, focusing back on the conversation at hand.

Willow felt all the blood draining from her face. What exactly was going on inside Dawn's head and just how perceptive was she?

"She and the lady in Faith's dream talked an awful lot about power. We need to understand the true power we yield, which we can't be told, only discover. We need to focus the power given to us."

"Firstie said something about the power you changed," Faith said, addressing Buffy.

"Well, yeah. She told me death was my gift. So I died. Then I came back. Kinda defying how the power is supposed to work."

"And you're sure this is in relation to your scythe?"

Faith answered, "Both our ladies were holding it when they were talking about our power. I'm thinkin' we need to take a deeper look at this thing, find out exactly what it is."

"And why you were able to bring it back from your dream," Andrew added.

"What about Faith's dream," Xander asked. "Anything specific from there?"

The two Slayer shared an intense look; Faith broke the eye contact first, looking away to let the blonde do the talking. Buffy sighed, "We didn't get a whole lot out of it. Most… most of the things going on had already happened; her dream was more precognitive than informative like mine. Her sister in the mirror, the attack on the backyard."

"Settin' the tree on fire," Faith said, raising her eyebrows in amusement.

"And then the lady with the scythe. That was the only relation between our dreams."

"And that was all?" Giles pushed, "Nothing more happened after this strange woman?"

Buffy looked a little hesitant, "N-no, that was it."

Xander scoffed, "Because that was laced with confidence."

"Buffy, the point of this excursion was for you two to bring back as much information as possible. We need every detail you can manage."

Willow watched Buffy's eyes flick nervously to Faith, unsure if she should answer.

_What happened that they… _The witch remembered her conversation with Faith the day before, when Faith had asked if she could skip over part of the dream. _Now there's something they _both_ don't want to say?_

Willow tipped her head back to look of at the brunette, "Faith?" she asked timidly.

"We… we met up with someone from my past," she answered loud enough for everyone else to hear. "It… I handled it."

"Faith," Giles pressed. The redhead felt a small tingle of dread crawl up her spine, Giles needed to stop pushing her.

"Come on, Faith," Xander encouraged, "We all have nasties in our closets. It might be relevant."

"Trust me, it isn't relevant." Her eyes moved to Dani, who was looking at her with a small frown.

"Faith-"

"Really don't want to talk about it."

"I must insist-"

"Giles," she warned again.

"The point of this excursion was to bring back informa-"

"Just spill, Faith."

"Fine, you want to know what happened?" Faith barked, "My dead mother came at me with the damn scythe and tried to kill me? Happy?" She stormed from the room.

An awkward silence descended, everyone a little taken back by Faith's outburst.

Willow wanted to get up from her seat to follow the Slayer but held herself back. If Dawn had noticed how close they were standing moments ago, how would it look if she were the one to follow Faith out? And if Dawn had noticed, had anyone else?

_Too bad for them,_ she thought, deciding Faith's welfare was more important. She got up from the chair, only to be halted by none other than Dawn. The younger girl had sighed dramatically, "Fine. I'll be the one to go see if she's okay."

"Since when are you and Faith all buddy-buddy?" Buffy asked with scepticism.

"I have compassion," Dawn scoffed. "And I don't see any of you jumping to go after her," she gave Willow a quick but knowing wink and then left the room.

And then even more panic set in for Willow.


	45. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

Faith's dramatic exit from the kitchen was short-lived. Her intentions had been to storm off back to her room and stay away from everyone until she no longer felt like she needed to punch something. But by the time she reached the front hall her leg, significantly in better condition after not using it for however long she was in the dreams but still not fully healed, was creating some serious pain.

The stairs loomed ahead of her. Going down had been bad enough. She could make it up them if she really wanted to, but it would hurt a hell of a lot. She opted for turning in the other direction and going out the front door.

The Slayer sat down on the porch stairs in a huff, and then winced in pain as the impact reverberated through her calf. Slayer healing worked wonders, especially when all but unconscious for almost a day, but her injury still hurt like a bitch. She hadn't checked on it when she and Buffy had woken up; they'd been a little preoccupied with not passing out from the dizziness of walking up from the fake dreams and realizing the scythe had made it back with them.

When her head was clear and no longer fuming at the Scoobies for pushing her as far as they had, she'd have someone take a look at it to make sure she hadn't managed to rip the gashes open again.

Faith was not left alone for very long however; her Slayer senses prickled, letting her know someone had followed her right before the front door opened.

Sitting stock still and staring angrily ahead, she didn't bother to look and see who sat down next to her.

"If you'll look to your left," the voice belonged to Dawn, imitating a tour-guide, "You'll see the scorch marks from Willow's magical battle with The First's demons. And to your right we have a destroyed mailbox and significantly dented car, courtesy of the übervamps. And, though I didn't actually see the fight, I hear Spike tossed a Bringer through the front window of the house." Her voice softened, "Hey."

Faith didn't answer; she was not in the mood to entertain Baby Summers.

"If you don't want to talk, that's fine. I'll just sit here and make angry faces at the neighbour's house with you."

The Slayer sighed heavily, knowing it conveyed what words couldn't.

"Do you… want to talk about it?"

"Honestly, not so much."

"I'm sorry they pushed you."

"Yeah, well, when you had a psychotic woman as a parent, people tend to find out one way or another."

"You mean…" Dawn chose her words carefully, "You mean… it was a memory?" She sounded a little nervous at having to ask.

Faith was taken back for a moment, "No, it was part of the dream. It just… wasn't all that out of the ordinary for her."

The younger girl went quiet, thinking. Faith gave her a sidelong glance and she could practically see the wheels turning inside the other girl's head. Eventually the younger girl said, "You… you never really talked about your family. Before, I mean, when you were first here."

"And now we learn why," Faith said offhandedly, trying not to show just how emotional she was at the moment.

"Was… was it that bad?"

Faith gave Dawn a long look, "What are you picturing?"

The smaller brunette was hesitant to offer an answer, "…A-a woman chasing a miniature you around the table with a kitchen knife."

Faith swallowed, "Yeah. It was worse than that."

Dawn flinched. "H-how old were you when she died?"

"Twelve," Faith thought for a moment. "Just a bit younger than you when your mom died I guess."

"But I loved my mom," Dawn slipped out quietly. Dawn winced right away, but Faith stopped to consider her words.

Had she ever loved her mother?

"Lara was…" she swallowed the knot forming in her throat and tried again. "Lara was… eventful to live with. Her mood swings, it… made it hard to know how she was gonna be from one day to the next, y'know? Yeah, she was…" Faith chose her words carefully, not wanting to be too graphic for the younger girl, "… pissy a lot of the time. She'd throw and smash and hurt things… us, a lot of the time. She'd lock is in our room for hours on end while she went off to go fuck whatever man she was seeing. She'd get wasted and high and that was like… like an excuse for her to hit us. She got her rocks off on it, the control she had over us.

"But… hell, she was still my mother, right? There… there were good moments with her. There were days she'd take us to the pier, buy us ice cream. We spent a whole day at the zoo one time. Shit, there was even a day she took us out of school so we could help her paint the kitchen. Green, I think.

"It was just… hard to live with. Not knowin' when she was gonna blow up on us for whatever fucked up reason."

But she was still family. Faith hated the woman's guts for all the horrible things she'd done to her daughters, but there was still that… obligatory feeling. Lara had still been her mother. The woman that, despite it all, had a few half-ass attempts at being a decent parent.

But had Faith ever loved the woman? Did Faith even know what love was?

She cared for and loved Dani. She knew that. And she had respected and trusted her first Watcher… and the Mayor. But Faith wasn't sure she truly knew what love was.

"Faith…" Dawn started and then stopped again. "Faith, was… was your mom bipolar?"

That one stumped the Slayer. "Never really thought about it, about _why_ she was the way she was. She was just… unstable."

"Just, the way you described… and, and with… Dani being… and your…anger when you were first here," Dawn seemed hesitant to say what was on her mind. "I just… I just wondered, maybe…?"

"No idea, D," Faith said as she blew out a puff of air. She didn't want to dwell on it. Why Lara had been so messed up? It was not a pleasant road of thoughts to wander down. It was a path that ran too close to home with Faith's own messed-up sense of self.

"I used to think I was a mistake," Faith spoke up after a long moment of silence.

Dawn tuned to look at her, "What?"

"Me. Me being a Slayer. My life. All of it. I used to think it was all a mistake."

"Faith, wh-"

The older girl waved her hand, wanting Dawn to let her speak. "I used to wonder if I had been some kind of mix-up. I mean, my mother had moments when she acted like a parent, but there were times I wondered if her getting pregnant wasn't supposed to happen." She snorted, "It wouldn't surprise me.

"Growing up with an abusive, drunken, unstable mother does things to you. From Lara I learned how to read and analyze people, how to manipulate people, and how to get what you want. I didn't learn to ride a fucking bike or bake cookies. Aside from taking care of Dani, most of my life with her was a waste."

Dawn really looked like she wanted to cut in, but Faith continued. "The foster homes just reinforced the mistake hypothesis. You can't do anything right in those places. All you are to them is another mouth to feed. Sure, some of them care, but they don't make you feel very optimistic, y'know?"

"Is this supposed to be a happy story?"

The Slayer paused for a moment. "Yeah, I think so."

"It doesn't sound all that positive."

"Let me get there. I didn't want to be another fucking statistic. I didn't want to be another damaged kid from a broken home. But I didn't know how to be anything else. And then I met my Watcher, and it changed everything. I believed her. I mean, yeah, at first I thought she was smokin' something pretty happy, telling me about people chosen to kill demons. But from almost the beginning I believed her.

"I thought she had made a mistake though. I believed her about the things that go bump in the night, but I didn't think I was one of those special people she talked about. I was a girl, nearly living on the streets, with a sister in an institution. How was I special? All my life I'd been told I was nothing. That I wasn't important. And here was this old lady who… who believed in me."

"She cared about you."

"More than I realized. God, that woman was like… like an actual grandmother. She was older than Giles was when he got Buffy, much older. But she believed in me and… and I had to try. Because really, what was my alternative? Follow the hooker career path Lara had laid out for me?"

Faith breathed in slowly, feeling herself growing upset. "And then… and then I fucked it all up. I learned I really was a mistake. I… shit, I let her die. I stood there and let her die."

Dawn reached out, "Faith-"

"I don't care what B's told you. I was no better than one of them," she gestured to the house behind her, meaning the Potentials, "I'd trained with her for five months, two as a Slayer, and I still messed it up so bad I got her killed. I nearly got myself killed.

"And I convinced myself that me becoming the Slayer was a mistake. I mean, clearly B wasn't ready to die. Twice. From what I hear, the girl before me wasn't ready to die and was one hell of a fighter. And what was I? Some girl who thought, 'hey, I have nothing better to do.' I'm not a fucking superhero, not like Buffy. I've never come close to being what she is.

"But… shit, I don't want those girls to become what I almost did. I don't want them to die in this God damned stupid fight because they don't know what they're doing."

Dawn's voice was gentle, "You care about them."

"I don't want them to die. I don't… I don't care if I never get to be what B is, if I don't ever get to be _The_ Slayer. I don't care if I'm always second to her. I just want those damn girls to have something worthwhile to live for. Even if I didn't, it doesn't mean they shouldn't."

Though Faith was looking straight ahead, she could see from the corner of her eye that her companion was smiling at her. "Okay, one. That was a much better motivation speech than Buffy has ever given. Why was I the only one to hear that? Two," Dawn's voice was gentle, "You aren't a mistake Faith. And you aren't _nothing_ compared to my sister. Buffy's had years of training. You only had a few months before you were put up against a massively old and evil vampire."

"Your sister beat The Master," Faith countered with an even voice.

"And, um, did you miss this part? She died. She actually bit the dust. You were just a kid Faith, younger than me. You couldn't be expected to know what to do."

"Buffy-"

"Buffy hasn't always been this perfect leader she makes you all think. Okay, yes, I didn't actually know she was the Slayer when she was first Called. But back in L.A. when Buffy had her first Watcher, she was a stuck-up cheerleader who bossed me around and flunked math like it was a sport. And… and her Watcher died too, Faith."

The brunette looked sharply at Dawn, "What? Giles died?"

"No… Buffy was Called when we were still living in Los Angeles. Her first Watcher was Marrick. He… he died. Buffy didn't meet Giles until we moved here, when she'd given up on being the Slayer. It took Willow and Xander almost getting killed for her to realize this was what she was meant to do.

"So you messed up a few times and never had the chance to redeem yourself. That doesn't make you a mistake. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be the Slayer. Did you ever… did you ever think about _why_ you were Called?"

"…No."

"Well, I did. Given, it was back when you were all grrr and I was trying to figure out why The Powers would have chosen a trigger-happy head-case to be their Chosen One. But, I mean, they picked you for a reason, Faith. You have something about you that makes you worthy of this fight. You have heart. You went through all that bad stuff, and you still care for your sister; you're still trying to find redemption for the bad things you did. And you're still fighting with us because you know it's the right thing to do. Don't let everyone knowing about the bad things in your past keep you from forgetting that."

"I don't remember you being this… insightful."

"I was fourteen the last time I saw you; back then insightful meant being able to write a paper on English Syntax and not be able to remember any of it a month later. But really, Faith," Dawn said with intensity, looking at her with a soft yet earnest expression, "You aren't a mistake. You were meant to be The Slayer. And there are people who care about you. Me, your sister, Buffy, Xander… _Willow._"

Faith blinked and looked at Dawn in surprise. "What?" _What did she just…?_

"You heard me," the girl laughed playfully.

Faith swallowed audibly. "Uh…"

The grin on Dawn's face widened into an evil smirk, "You two looked mighty friendly back in the kitchen."

_Oh fuck. _"Dawn…"

"Is there something going on between you two?"

The Slayer was completely thrown. In a matter of seconds everything had been tossed upside down. And she was left standing in the middle of it. "I don't know? Yes?"

The smirk on Dawn's face dropped, "Yes?! I was just teasing. What do you mean 'yes'? You mean you two actually…?"

"Chill," Faith laughed. "We're just… really close. I don't… I don't really know what's going on."

"But there is something? Something had to happen to constitute you saying something is going on. Oh my God, did you have sex with Willow?!"

"No, no Red and I didn't have sex. Relax."

"Then what…"

"Dawn, I'd rather not-"

"Tell me. Tell me right now."

"Dawn."

"Tell me or I'll tell everyone you _did_ have sex with Willow."

"That'd hurt her more than me."

Dawn glared at her, "Tell me."

Faith leaned back on her hands, knowing she wasn't going to win this. Dawn was just as bad as Buffy when it came to being stubborn, "…We made out a few times."

"Oh my God."

"It's not that big a-"

"Oh my God!"

"Damn it," Faith sighed to herself.

"Are you serious? Like, is this for real? Oh my God, you and Willow! That's so cute!"

Faith frowned, "Why is everyone suddenly using the word cute around me?"

The younger brunette was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Dawn, really, you need to relax. You're scaring me. I don't… I don't really know what's going on with us. I just… like being around her. And she…"

"And she what?" Dawn asked gently, dropping the excited energy for calm and inquisitive.

Faith shook her head, knowing she didn't have words for what she wanted to say.

"You really… this is serious, isn't it? I mean, you… you feel something for her."

Faith's heart began to speed up with fear. She didn't want to label her feelings for Willow because she didn't want to think about how serious it all might be. The Slayer didn't do well with attachments. They never went well. She didn't want to let her mind start fantasizing about Willow doing to her what everyone else in her life had. Abandon her.

She knew it _wasn't _something casual, but it was easier to treat it like that, to keep her from panicking.

"Faith?" Dawn probed.

But the older brunette was saved. The door behind her opened and Faith breathed a quiet sigh of relief, glad she didn't have to try to further explain what was going on inside her with Buffy's sister.

"Hey, you're still here. I thought you might have distracted Dawnie and taken off with the car."

Faith winced. Perfect. Willow showing up right now was exactly what she _didn't_ need. Not with Dawn being all nosey and crap.

"Hey, _Willow," _Dawn sing-songed.

"Dawn, I am going to ignore whatever you were implying with that."

"Uh huh."

"How're you doing?" Willow asked, now addressing Faith.

The Slayer turned around to look at Willow, forcing a smile despite her growing discomfort with the situation. "Better. Dawn's good company." She saw the slightest frown grace Willow's features. _Not that you aren't though._

"I've been known to have moments of maturity. How's it going back inside?"

Willow sighed, "Well, everyone stood around awkwardly for a bit. But then Buffy eventually went back into recapping the dream for us, giving us every detail. And I mean every, down to colours and smells and whatever else her pretty little head could remember. And Xander and Anya are acting all… couple-y."

"They what!" the Summers girl squealed.

"Mmm, yup. Anya came in and the two of them were a little… glow-y. I think they're working on things."

"Are they ba-"

"No, I don't think they're back together. I just think they're… working on being close again. And they may have slept together last night. Andrew mumbled something."

"Aww, that's so cute. Xander and Anya, you and-"

"Dawn," Willow said harshly, "I am going to stop you _right there_ and ask if I can have some time alone with Faith. And you are going to say yes, and go back inside the house, and politely keep your mouth shut about whatever it was you two talked about."

The younger girl raised her eyebrows suggestively, but complied with Willow's request. When they were alone Willow sat down next to Faith. "Hey."

"Hey yourself."

"You okay?"

"You know me, five by five."

"Really," Willow pushed, "You're okay?"

"Yeah," Faith breathed out heavily, "Just," her hand motioned towards her head, "Pullin' a you and thinking too much."

"Sorry, it's contagious."

"It's cool. She… she's really grown up. We had a good talk. And then she brought up you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. Mentioned how… um, how… close we were standing… in the kitchen."

Willow smiled nervously, "I caught her looking at us. Then she winked at me. I nearly died."

"She's a quick one, catches things."

"I think it's because she's younger than us. I mean, she's a Scooby, but she was on the outside for a while, because she was younger and Buffy didn't want her involved in the slaying. So she learned to listen and pick up on things. Was she…?"

"Okay? With the idea of…you…and…and me? Yeah, she was cool. Not that-"

"Faith."

"Yeah?"

"You can say 'us' you know. I mean…" she seemed to choose her words carefully, "We aren't… exclusive. But you can use the word 'us.' It isn't a bad thing."

_I'm just not used to doing this. This 'us' thing._

"I'm just not-"

"I get it," Willow smiled at her. "Believe me, I get it. I just want you to know you can be honest with me. Don't be afraid to say things around me." She let her hand fall from her lap, fingers gently intertwining with Faith's and massaging them slowly. "Is this okay?" She asked evenly.

Faith nodded.

"Then stop thinking. If it feels right, just let it happen."

"I don't know how to let it happen. I've never-"

"Faith-"

"No, Red, let me finish." Faith pulled away slightly. "I've… fuck. Uhh. Relationships aren't me. You know that. I mean, I've dated before, but never anything serious. I just…"

"But you're willing to try this?" Willow asked hopefully.

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to label anything."

"Yes, and we agreed to just let whatever happens happen and deal with it when the Apocalypse is no longer ringing the doorbell. But you have to trust me and let me in a little bit in order to let things happen."

"I thought I wa-"

"You were. And then you let yourself get scared and you clammed up. Do you… do you know how scared you looked when you saw me step outside just now?"

Faith didn't answer.

"You looked… you looked terrified. Dawn and you were talking and you let whatever commitment issues you have bubble up and take over."

"You sound like you know exactly what you're doing," Faith muttered.

"No," Willow shook her head with a smile, "I just like to pretend I'm better at not freaking out."

"You are like, the queen of freaking out. Have you seen yourself babble?"

Willow rolled her eyes, "The babble is not just external. I babble internally too. Trust me, I know I'm the queen of freaking out. But I also know when the freaking isn't necessary." She changed the subject easily, "So, up for a shopping trip?"

"Huh?"

"Your leg, is it up for a little shopping excursion? The two new girls need some clothes, so does the girl Laurel, the one who got here while we were in Boston. And we also need more toilet paper. And toothpaste."

"Aren't you a little worn out, from the magic stuff? You looked about ready to pass out in there," she indicated the kitchen.

"Yeah," the witch replied, "But… they need clothes."

"Then someone else can drive them. Shouldn't you be upstairs? Meditating or sleeping it off?"

"I am a little dizzy. But… I'd rather be around you than alone in my room. You make everything dizzy, but in a good way."

"That line was layered with cheese."

"But it's true!" Willow put on the puppy-dog eyes, "Don't you like cheesy lines?"

"Usually I'm the one layin' on the cheesy lines."

"Well if you're sticking around me, then you better get used to it."


	46. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

It was mid-afternoon and Willow was dozing comfortably. She had been meditating for the past few hours, both alone and then, upon Giles' insistence, with the scythe. Which hadn't turned out to be as bad or weird as she had expected. Quite the opposite in fact. Although they didn't have a whole lot of information on it, she had still learned some things about it.

For one, Buffy had been right. It was powerful. There was magic laced into the core of its being. Magic that practically reached out and begged Willow to try wielding it.

As well, it was old. The power inside it wasn't dark per say, but it had an ancient taste to it. Willow had held her share of old magical artefacts before, but never something quite like this. She wasn't even sure if the research books downstairs would have anything on their mystery weapon.

Which meant it was up to her to figure out what it was, what it did, and why it was important.

Willow sighed contentedly. She was reclined back on the bed; red hair fanned around her and arms lying loosely at her sides. The scythe was lying next to her, still humming at her in request to explore its power.

The witch's head felt much better. Even though the meditation had been rooted in production and not relaxation, the hours of simply _being_ and letting everything inside her settle back into its normal levels had worked wonders. She was drifting on the edge of sleep, but she was no longer exhausted, and her magic was no longer at dangerously low levels.

The door opened slightly but she didn't look up. She was too relaxed to want to move. Her whole body felt like jelly; in a good, comfortable way.

"You awake?" Faith asked quietly.

"Mmm, mostly." Her eyes blinked open slowly and she sat up, seeking out the brunette. The Slayer was someone she would move for, despite the jelly state. Faith was crouching at the side of the room, her back to Willow while rooting through her bag for a clean change of clothes. Her hair was damp and she was clad in only a towel. "F-Faith?"

The Slayer stood and turned around, "Yeah?" She looked casual, one hand clasping the towel covering her at the top of her chest, the other still holding the bag of clothes.

Whatever words Willow had intended to say died in her throat.

Faith was doing that thing again; the thing where she managed to take the redhead's breath away.

Her hair hung loosely around her face and draped over her shoulders, almost dry and in gentle waves. The deep forest green of the towel she was holding made her skin stand out sharply, making it appear much paler than normal. The tattoo on her arm stood out too, a black tribal design on fair skin.

The towel didn't leave much to the imagination. Although it easily covered the brunette's breasts, it only reached partway down her thighs. It made her legs look very long, with a few beads of water still sliding down her skin and-

_Oh Goddess._

"Willow?"

The witch forced her eyes back up to Faith's face and then quickly turned away, "Sorry," she mumbled.

"What? You too modest to see me standin' in a towel?"

"You're doing it on purpose, aren't you?" Willow asked, still facing the wall and feeling her face grow hot.

"You betcha," Faith chuckled. After a moment of rustling, "'Kay, you can turn around now."

Willow slowly looked back at The Slayer, who was now standing in the middle of the room in shorts and a tank. The witch's eyes couldn't help themselves as they roamed over Faith's body once more, taking the time to notice how muscular yet feminine her form was. They slid down her legs again, which were almost hypnotizing, until…

"You bled through your bandage."

"Yeah," Faith said dismissively.

The redhead patted the bed next to her, "Sit. I'll take a look." She stood and moved the scythe to the floor and then pulled the first aid kit out from under the bed. She turned back to Faith; she was sitting with her leg crossed under her and her bad leg stretched out.

Daintily, Willow began removing the damp material of the bandage. "Maybe you should have taken it off before you showered."

"Yeah, no. Have you actually _seen _it? Slayer heeling works wonders, but soap would still hurt like a bitch."

Willow had to agree. Once the bandage was peeled away, she could see that although it didn't look as bad as it had when Faith had first arrived back at the house, bleeding and nearly unconscious, it still looked pretty nasty. The skin was raw and pink, the gash the angry red of a cut that had only party healed over before being opened again. "If you stayed off it, it might heal faster. How can you even walk without it exploding in pain?"

Faith winced as Willow dabbed the small amount of fresh blood away before adding some ointment and then a fresh wrap, "I'm used to pain. You grow up with Lara, you learn not to complain."

A small frown fell into place on Willow's features as her hands stilled, "…Oh."

"It's no big deal. I just mean, dislocated shoulders, bloody knees, whatever, I learned not to complain if it hurt. Sometimes she'd take pity and we'd go to the doctor. Most of the time I'd just end up listening to her yelling about how ungrateful I was. And, I mean, Slayer? I'm kinda used to gettiin' beat up. Comes with the territory."

"That's not a very positive outlook."

"I'm not dead yet, am I? I'd say that's positive. Hell, I'm doing better than B."

Willow smiled and rolled her eyes.

"And plus, who needs to be optimistic when you've got my good looks? That's all I really need."

"You are so full of yourself."

"Admit it, you dig this," she gestured to herself. "Totally saw you checkin' me out."

"You were in a towel, it was kind of hard not to."

Faith leaned forward, letting her warm breath touch Willow's ear as she whispered, "And did you like what you saw?"

The witch's eyes fluttered closed as her lips met Faith's. Just a gentle brush was all the invitation she needed; she was quickly growing fond of Faith's lips. They were soft and smooth and very kissable. _Very_ kissable. She very much enjoyed kissing Faith's lips, in the same way her lungs enjoyed oxygen.

Willow's hands tangled themselves in Faith's hair as the Slayer's tongue ran along her bottom lip before pushing forward to meet the redhead's. Willow shivered at the sensation.

Her hands moved down and ran slowly along Faith's arms as they continued kissing, their tongues swirling with each other. Faith was inching her weight forward, slowing pressing down on Willow until the witch complied, leaning back on the bed. Faith followed, her mouth not breaking contact with Willow's.

Regrettably, the redhead pulled away, needing to catch her breath. Faith didn't seem to notice, instead continuing to kiss the witch along her jaw line down to her ear, where she kissed and circled her tongue around the lobe before sucking it into her mouth. When her teeth nibbled on the tender skin Willow couldn't contain the moan that escaped her throat.

Faith lifted her head, an easy smile present on her lips. Willow saw nothing but compassion and desire in her eyes. Her hands squeezed Willow's hips as she brought their lips together again.

The redhead sighed into the kiss, knowing Faith was enjoying herself just as much as she was.

_But I think it's time we turn the tables,_ Willow thought as she flipped their positions, allowing her to be the one resting atop Faith.

Said girl blinked in surprise, "Hey."

"You don't get to have all the fun," Willow smiled before leaning down to capture Faith's lips with her own once more.

Time seemed to slip away as they continued, hardly pulling away long enough to get air into their lungs before kissing again. Willow's fingers were playing with the bottom hem of Faith's shirt as she kissed down the Slayer's throat, nipping playfully at the other girl's pulse point. Faith growled.

Willow smiled to herself as she soothed the area with her tongue. However she smile receded quickly as Faith pulled away. "You're gonna want to sit up now."

"I… wha?" Willow asked, confused as to why she was no longer kissing the other girl.

"Sit up," Faith answered, frowning slightly. "Trust me."

Willow complied, pulling away from the brunette and sitting up on the bed, "Why-?"

"Three," Faith counted quietly to herself, "two, one."

Willow was puzzled, but the feeling didn't last long as there was a quick knock at the door. The person on the other side didn't wait for an answer, instead opening it and inviting themselves inside.

Heart jumping into her throat, Willow leapt from the bed, putting some distance between her and the Slayer. They had almost been caught.

Faith had _known_ someone was about to walk in on them. She had known and only broken the contact seconds before they had been interrupted.

Willow shot Faith an unhappy glare before turning to see just who had almost walked-in on them.

It was Buffy, with a chipper looking Dani skipping along behind her. The younger girl plopped herself down next to her sister, "What are you doing?"

"Hey Dan," Faith said, and Willow could see the forced smile she gave as she too tried to calm her racing heart. "Red was just redoing the bandage," she pointed to her leg.

Daniela looked at the bandage, frowning. "Not fun."

"No," Faith laughed, "it isn't."

"Well _my_ injury from down in the Hellmouth is healing just fine."

Faith snorted at the blonde, "You didn't exactly have the muscle all but ripped off, did you?"

"Fair."

"W-what's up Buffy?" Willow asked, hoping her voice sounded close to normal.

The blonde Slayer didn't seem to notice her stutter. She picked the scythe up off the floor, "What'd we find out about it?" She asked, swing it back and forth as she mimicked fighting an imaginary foe with the weapon. She seemed to be in a good mood.

The redhead blinked slowly, forcing herself to focus. "Well," she began, "I can see the connection it has with you."

"You what?" Buffy asked, stopping mid swing.

"You and Faith are connected by your Slayers, right?" Both girls nodded, "Well," Willow continued, "Picture a… a ribbon running between you two. It's always there; it's faint, but it's there. It's how you two are able to sense each other."

Buffy nodded again in understanding, "Because our Slayers are one and the same."

"Exactly," she sat down in the chair next to the vanity so she could face both girls, "I reinforced that bond when you two re-lived the Slayer dreams, made it easier for your _spirits_ to connect with each other, but your _Slayers_ were already connected. And the scythe is too. There is a tendril of power running from it to each of you."

Willow suppressed rolling her eyes as Faith inspected the weapon Buffy's hands for said ribbon of power. "Not literally, Faith. You can't see it without magical sight. And even then, I can't see it unless I'm actually looking for it. It's not like my own magic."

"You can see that?" Dani asked, eyes lighting up. "What colour?"

The redhead smiled, "It depends on what I'm doing. It changes."

"Okay, so," Faith spoke up, "it's connected with us. Still doesn't explain why we've never heard of it."

"Or why the First Slayer had it," Buffy added.

Willow knitted her brows as an idea came to her, "What if it isn't hers?"

"What?"

"Buffy, what if, okay," she took a breath then began, "The First Slayer is really old, right? She was active as the Slayer well before Common Era; before Christ." Willow tried to speak slowly and not let her ideas tumble out of her mouth too quickly. "This though," she gestured to the weapon in Buffy's hands, "It isn't as old as the Slayer line. Giles might have a better idea of how old it is, he's better at artefacts and dates than I am, but I don't think it was used by the First Slayer when she was alive. It isn't that old."

Buffy was restless and began pacing the room, swinging the scythe again so the metal sparkled in the sunlight. "So why'd she have it in the dream?"

The witch paused for a moment, thinking of how she wanted to describe this. "It's possible that you didn't actually see the First Slayer during the dreams." When both Faith and Buffy gave her a sceptical look, Willow continued, "She's the first one, so she has a connection with all the girls who've ever been Slayers after her, right? So what if what you saw in your dreams was more of… a conduit for all the past Slayers?"

"You mean, it's her form, but it's really all of them?" The blonde clarified, leaning back against the bureau.

Willow's head bobbed up and down in enthusiasm, "Exactly. That would make more sense as to why the First Slayer was telling you about the scythe. It isn't hers, but because she essentially _is_ every girl that's been a Slayer, she knows about it and was trying to guide you to it."

Willow was very pleased with her rational, until Faith spoke again. "That answers question two, what about question one. Why hasn't anyone heard of it? If the Watcher's know everything about the Slayer, why didn't G-man know what it was?"

"Actually," the blonde said, "I think I may have this one."

Faith laughed as she leaned back on her hands, "Really?"

Buffy glared, "Please, no blonde comments from you, Miss Dropout."

The younger Slayer shrugged, "High school dropout, college dropout. Same thing."

Willow watched Buffy roll her eyes in irritation, but she smiled and continued with her idea. "It's possible that the Watchers Council never knew about this," she held up the scythe. "I mean, Sineya didn't have a Watcher. She had the Shadow Men, but it was probably a long time before any sort of organization of Watchers was set up. And a long while before it became a council of 'people in business suits that sit on their asses all day pretending they're important.'"

The redhead wasn't quite grasping it. She tried following Buffy's line of thought, "Okay, meaning…?"

"Well," the blonde continued, "if the idea that the Watcher's Council of Brittan is new in comparison to the Slayer line, then wouldn't its customs be new too? Maybe the reason this isn't in the Watcher Diaries is because it predates them?

She pushed off from the bureau and began pacing the room again, wearing her Deep Thought expression, "Wasn't it like, in ancient times only church people knew how to write?" Willow cringed at Buffy's attempt at history, but didn't bother to correct the girl. "Once the idea of a Watcher was established for the Slayer, any information was probably only passed along by word of mouth for a long time."

"That's a big leap, B."

Buffy shook her head slowly, "No, not really. I mean, I haven't read them, but I know Giles read like, _all_ the Diaries. And he wasn't reading stories on papyrus paper written in blood."

Willow cringed again.

"His books can't be older than one, maybe two hundred years," the older Slayer went on. "And if the Council _did_ have older records, there were probably only a handful of them kept in a vault somewhere, so they don't decompose or whatever it is old books do.

"So my point is that, when this was made," she handed the weapon to Faith, "The Watchers were relying on word of mouth to pass on any information. And if it was the Slayer's weapon, and there was some big nasty battle and she died and the scythe was lost somewhere, then her Watcher would have told the new Watcher that there was a weapon, but they may not have been able to find it.

"And they could have spent however long looking for it, but if it was never found, then the fact that there _was_ a weapon made just for the Slayer would only be kept alive from Watcher to Watcher. If it was never officially written down, as time went of it could have been forgotten."

_That is actually a pretty logical answer, ignoring her attempts at history. Buffy was never that good at history in high school. But still, that's a really rational explanation._

The brunette Slayer considered Buffy's reasoning, "'Kay," she drawled, "I can dig that. But one last question. How exactly did it end up here?"

Buffy opened her mouth, going to say something, and then closed it again. She didn't have an answer for that.

"Magic," Dani chirped.

Faith looked at her sister, "How's that?"

Dani shrugged, "Willow said its magic, so…"

The blonde Slayer disagreed, "Just because it _is_ magic doesn't mean it can _do_ magic." She turned to look at the witch, "Wills? Thoughts?"

_Hmmm,_ Willow thought. _How to make this sound right?_ After a moment of organizing her thoughts, she spoke, "Okay, we've established that the First Slayer has a connection with all the girls. And what you saw in the dreams was most likely a conduit of all their memories placed in one singular form.

"From a magical standpoint, if the scythe is connected to the Slayer – and I'm talking a strong bond here – then Sineya, basically being the embodiment of all the past Slayers, would have a spiritual connection with it. Even though she isn't real, she only exists in a temporal plane, she would still have a link to it. Like how when a person dies, they have a really strong connection with something – say the location where they died a violent death – they are able to cross over the veil between dimension and haunt their old house. They have ties to it that stretch farther than one plane of existence.

"It would be the same with the First Slayer. Through her link with all the past girls she has an infinitely strong bond with the scythe, so she was able to draw it from its location, wherever it was lost to history, and bring it into her dreamscape. She is the _spirit_ of the Slayer. And because you two are the _embodiment_ of the Slayer you were able to bring it from the dreamscape to our dimension. Like… I guess like a form of teleportation. It isn't so much the astral projection of the weapon as the instantaneous relocation of the real thing."

Faith wasn't convinced, "So why us? Why'd she give it to us and not any other Slayer in history? Why didn't she just give it to the girl who came after the one who lost it?"

Answering that was easy. "Because you two are the first to connect with her in such an intimate way."

Buffy raised her eyebrows, "Um… meaning what?"

Willow turned to the blonde, "Buffy, when did you start having Slayer dreams?"

"They started right before I was Called."

"And Faith?"

The girl shrugged, "Same."

She looked back at Buffy, "Okay, and when was the first time Sineya came to you in your dreams?"

Comprehension dawned on Buffy. "Oh."

Willow beamed, proud of herself; this was why she was number one at Scooby research.

"Wanna shed a little light, B?" Faith asked, "I'm still in the dark about all this."

The other Slayer launched into an explanation, "The first time I dreamed about Sineya was during my first year of college. We, um, we kind of used a spell to combine our abilities – me and the Scoobies – and ended up invoking the essence of the First Slayer to help us defeat a big and nasty. Then she kind of tried to kill us all in our sleep because she didn't like the way I slayed. But that was the first time I saw her."

"After we released her," Willow added.

"Ah."

"But, wait. What about the Hokey Pokey thing in the desert with Giles?"

"You… what'd where with Giles?" A taunting smirk pulled at Faith's lips.

Buff huffed, "No, you perv. Giles told me about this vision quest, a thing Slayers can do to get themselves back on track and learn what it means to be a Slayer. When I did it, I saw the First Slayer again." She looked at Willow, confused, "I know it wasn't a dream of her, but if I saw her there, couldn't other Slayers have seen her too?"

Willow clarified, "Magically speaking, a vision quest is different from a dream-walk, especially when we consider how important dreams are for the Slayer."

_Here we go with Research Gal mode,_ Willow giggled to herself before she began.

"Vision quests began as Native American traditions; you take a spiritual trip to find yourself and get your life back on track, usually as a sort of coming-of-age thing. Some sort of spiritual manifestation or guardian animal will come to you as a guide to help you find what you are looking for. The manifestation you saw, Buffy, happened to take the form of the First Slayer, because she is connected with you on a Slayer level, but also because you had a link with her after the enjoining spell. It's possible other Slayers saw her when they went of the vision quest, but it's just as possible that they saw other long dead Slayers. It's a matter of chance and what _you_ need as a guide. That's the point of a vision quest. To guide you back to where you are supposed to be.

"With the dreams, it's different. From what we know from the Council and Giles' lectures, Slayers all share a psychic link that is manifested in their dreams."

"You dream you're another girl in another time." Faith said softy.

"Exactly. These happen even before you are Called, right? So that's the groundwork for the dreams, connecting you to the past girls. But we also know they have another role, being prophetic to upcoming emergencies. A Higher Power guides these, giving you the message you need to stop whatever crisis is coming. And this was how the First Slayer came to you know, in your own dream space in order to connect with you. Since _that_ has never happened to any other girl, I think we can assume it's only because of our spell a few years ago. Our spell essentially broke down a mystical wall, allowing a deeper connection to run between you and past Slayers. That's why Sineya gave the scythe to you two and not anyone before you."


	47. Chapter 39

**A/N: Sorry for the mix up last week. Thanks to those who pointed out the mistake to me. All should be good now.**

**Chapter 39**

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"No, you're joking. That didn't actually happen."

"It did."

"B, your saying some guy made a robot version of you. I'm not buyin'."

"I'm telling you, it was real. We had a robot-me walking around Sunnydale."

"Okay then, why? Why'd the guy build a double of you?"

Buffy hesitated, "Uh… we're not going to go into that."

"Right," Faith drawled. "So where's the hunk of metal now?"

"Destroyed."

"Dawn said some group of nasty demons destroyed it," Vi said, speaking up and interrupting the Slayers' banter.

"Dawn has a big mouth," Buffy grumbled. "But yeah, the Buffy Bot is toast."

"Freaky," Faith said, shaking her head.

It was dark out and the group was doing a quick patrol. After the magical battle they'd missed last night, Buffy was proactive to stop the demons sent by The First before they attacked the house again, opting to catch them while they were out and about terrorizing the almost abandoned town of Sunnydale. They were staying away from the high school, knowing that going near the center of the demonic activity was just asking for trouble. Buffy had also opted for leaving the scythe behind; if Caleb was looking for it, she'd reasoned, then it was better he didn't know they had it.

The outing was another excuse to get in some real field-time experience for some of the stronger Potentials. Faith and Buffy hadn't been conscious during the last fight, but they'd been informed the girls fighting had held their own.

So there they were, demon hunting when Faith was ninety percent sure it was a bad idea. But Buffy was the boss, so when she said 'jump' they asked 'how high?'

They hadn't encountered anything demonic yet, only a pack of stray dogs.

Faith wasn't sure if this was a good thing, not finding anything on patrol. Her Slayer senses could tell there were demons about, and it made her uneasy knowing they were there but staying hidden. At least with regular demons, when the sun went down, the beasties went a-snacking. Demons in league with the Super Evil? Probably only going out to do its bidding.

And thus making for a nervous Slayer.

"So," Rona spoke up, "When are we gonna get to come and train out here again," she gestured to the cemetery they were walking through. "Your backyard is cramped."

Buffy's blonde hair brushed her shoulders as she shook her head, "Not till we know it's safe."

"I don't see any demons."

"Just 'cause you can't see 'em doesn't me they aren't there," Faith said casually. "It's better not to learn that the hard way."

"God, you two just need to make up your minds," the dark-skinned girl grumbled, "One minute you're all, _Train, train, we need to prepare you guys for war. _And the next you're like, _We can't teach you how to fight unless we know it's safe._ Just pick one and stick to it, okay? I'm tired of being dragged around like a ragdoll."

Faith was about to retort when something caught her eye. She stopped walking and turned, looking to her left into the darkness. Something was moving towards them. It was covering the ground quickly; it's body dark, with blonde…

"Spike?"

The other three, who hadn't noticed Faith's halt, turned back at the sound of her voice. "Spike, what are you doing?" Buffy asked.

"I-"

"Where are the other girls?" Buffy asked, referring to Molly, Kennedy, and Tenisha, who had been patrolling with Spike in another part of town.

"We got jumped by a bunch of Mites."

"You were attacked by fleas?" Vi asked.

"No, Mites." He was met with blank stares. "You know, nasty little demons, lots of fangs. Not sent by The First though; they hibernate until fall. We…well, Molly kind of fell _in_ the nest…"

"Spike. Where are the girls?" Buffy was insistent.

"We were doing fine, holding the damn things off. But then one of those stupid Turok Han showed up. We got separated while I was dealing with that thing."

"Did you kill it," Faith asked.

"Nah, it ran off so I chased after it. But Buffy," he addressed the blonde, "I found something."

The blonde Slayer still seemed worried about the fact that the Potentials were out on their own, "What," she snapped, "What did you find."

"You said in your dream that Caleb was lookin' for something. Something big. I think I found it when I was trying to find the girls again."

"Spike, can it wait-?"

"Trust me, you'll want to see this."

Faith could see Buffy was torn, wanting to make sure the junior Slayers were safe, but also wanting to know what it was Caleb was hiding from them. "B," she said, getting Buffy's attentions, "Go with Spike; see what the big fuss is. Me and the girls will go find the others," she said, nodding towards Rona and Vi.

The older Slayer nodded, she and Spike taking off in the direction he had just come from. Leading Rona and Vi behind her, Faith took off at a brisk run, heading towards the area Spike and his group of Potentials had been patrolling.

They'd been running a few minutes when Faith became aware of a tingly sensation running up her spine. Her pace slowed. It wasn't a 'someone's watching' tingle, more of a 'something's wrong' sort of tingle.

And even though she wasn't as good as Buffy, Faith knew that, as a Slayer, you don't ignore those kinds of feelings.

This wasn't right. What they were doing, it wasn't right.

Spike wouldn't have left the girls alone. Even if he did find something, he would have gone to make sure the other three Potentials were okay first, especially if they had been holding off a ward of demons on their own. Spike, despite being a bloodthirsty vamp, was still responsible. Anyone could see that. He cared for Buffy and he cared for the Potentials. He wouldn't have left them alone like that.

Her run slowed to a jog as her mind continued to whirl.

Spike hadn't looked like he had just got in a fight with an übervamp; he wasn't bleeding or hunched over from running to find them.

And, Faith realized, she hadn't felt the usual Slayer tingle when Spike had shown up. The one that meant there was a vampire around. Whenever she was around Angel or Spike the tugging inside her dulled, her Slayer recognizing they weren't a threat, but she still should have felt something.

Something very wrong was going on.

Rona and Vi had pulled ahead of her, not slowing when Faith had. "Yo, Faith," Rona called. "What's wrong?"

The brunette Slayer came to a stop, her mind circling and trying to find an answer.

That wasn't Spike. That thing, whatever it was, had not been the peroxide vampire she knew.

And Faith had a very, very strong idea of what exactly it was.

The First. Buffy was alone with The First.

It was a setup.

_Shit!_

Instantaneous panic swarmed Faith. She cared about her sister Slayer; she didn't want to see Buffy get hurt.

Something inside her rumbled too; her Slayer, not liking the idea of its counterpart in danger.

The Slayer within her was like a separate entity, another being sharing her body. Most of the time it simply lent her its power, enhancing her senses, strength, and precognition for evil. It was a power source within her, but it had its own mind and thoughts. Faith usually had control over it, pushing back her Slayer's thoughts of hunting and destroying everything evil it encountered.

Sometimes they got the better of her and she'd get caught up in Slaying, too involved in simply staking to be aware of what was going on around her. The Slayer within didn't understand that with demons there were shades of grey. Not all things inhuman were bad.

Back when she'd first been in Sunnydale, and then when she'd run off to L.A., that had been when her Slayer was more in charge of what was going on and influencing her actions with its constant thoughts of kill, murder, death.

Faith knew Buffy had a better handle on the being within her. Buffy never seemed to show she was aware of the potential dark power inside her. She kept her Slayer locked away inside her, using its power but not listening to its pressuring thoughts.

But that made sense, because Buffy had always had a Watcher and had been training to control her power since… well since basically forever.

Faith and Buffy's Slayers were two halves of the same being. A strong connection flowed between the two, letting one know whenever the other was nearby. And Faith's Slayer flared at the idea of having left Buffy alone with the primordial source of evil.

"Faith?" Vi tried.

"We have to go back."

"Uh, why?" Rona asked flatly.

"That wasn't Spike. That was The First."

"But I thought The First could only be…" Vi started, "Oh, right. Vampire. Dead. A-are you sure?"

Faith's response was to turn and run back to where they had last seen Buffy and the fake-Spike, knowing the other girls would follow behind her.

She covered the small amount of distance the trio had run easily, through the cemetery and back to the adjoining park. Faith could hear the other two following, their heavy breathing letting her know she hadn't pulled too far ahead of them. Buffy was in danger, but Faith was still responsible for the Potentials.

The Slayer skidded to a halt when she reached the area they had been standing in when The First had approached. The grass was damp and spongy under her feet with night-time dew. Brown hair swinging as she tossed her head back and forth and reached out for Buffy, trying to locate the other girl through their Slayer bond. It was a similar tingle to what she'd feel if a vampire or demon was close by, a prickle low in her abdomen. She felt the pull and followed along the string of power that connected their two Slayers; once she was sure of the direction she took off again, Vi and Rona trailing her.

Buffy was somewhere in the woodlot that lined the park and cemetery. Faith ran between the trees, drawing on the Slayer inside her to guide her and keep her from tripping over tree roots or impacting low-lying branches. It was dark outside, the sun had set a while ago; the only light was that of the moon peeking through the gaps in the canopy above.

"Spike, how much further."

"It's just through here. Don't worry, love."

"And what is it exactly?"

"You'll see. It has to be the thing Caleb's looking for. I can practically feel the power running off it."

Faith's pace slowed, she could hear Buffy, but couldn't see her through the dense underbrush.

"I don't like the idea of stomping in the dark looking for some special Excalibur."

"But you trust me, Buffy?"

The answer was immediate, "With my life."

_Damn it, where are they?!_

The voices were distant, being carried by the wind and picked up by Faith's sensitive ears. She wanted to call out to Buffy, warn her, but knew that could make things worse. If The First was planning some form of ambush Faith's calls could jumpstart it and catch Buffy off-guard.

There was an explosion of discomfort in the brunette's stomach, her body reacting to what it was Chosen to do. _Something_ was about to attack, but Faith wasn't sure if it was her or the blonde that was in danger.

She could see a clearing up ahead and ran towards it. It was a small ravine in the forest, the ground sloping down gently towards a dried up stream-bed. Buffy and The First were standing at the base of the hill; Buffy still oblivious and talking with what she thought was Spike.

An übervamp was running down the other side of the hill, the blonde too preoccupied with laughing at something the faux-Spike had said to notice.

"Buffy, behind you!"

Any other person would have turned to see what exactly was coming up behind them, and by the time they realized what it was it would have been too late and the thing would have reached them. But Buffy was special. A Slayer by birthright, Buffy had learned to always be on her toes and be prepared for an attack.

So instead of simply turning to see what her attacker was, Buffy recognized the urgency in Faith's voice and let instincts take over, her turn becoming an offensive move. By the time her body had completed the one-eighty her foot was in the air and connected with the übervamp's face with a sickening crunch.

Faith rushed down the side of the ravine, yelling a "Stay back!" to the two Potentials behind her.

"Oh, now, look what you did," The First complained with Spike's voice as Faith flew past, "You ruined my fun."

Buffy was trading blows with the demon, the beast snarling and bearing its teeth at her. The Slayer moved to kick the übervamp again but it caught her foot, claws digging into her jeans as it swung her. She landed a few feet away and the vamp pounced, tackling her and beginning to pound into her smaller body.

Faith reached the fight a split second later, drop-kicking the demon in the head and knocking it off her companion. The übervamp snarled and lunged at the brunette, claws ready to bear into her flesh. Reflexively she brought her stake up, even though she knew it would do little good. Anya had said it _was_ possible to stake them and turn them to dust, but seeing as how their chests were as strong as freaking cement, it was easier said than done.

The brunette Slayer settled for plunging the piece of wood as hard as she could into the übervamp's neck with one hand and then punching it clear across the face with the other.

Though the creature was now freely bleeding from the puncture wound, some of which had splattered onto Faith's shirt, the demon seemed to only become angrier. Faith saw one of its clawed hands moving to slash into her stomach so she twisted out of the way, avoiding the move. But the fresh wave up pain that shot up from her leg was enough to distract her, resulting in her being tossed backwards by the übervamp.

She grunted in pain as her back and head connected with a tree trunk. The Slayer felt darkness envelop her as the pain reverberated through her skull.

A few moments later she came too. Pushing off the ground and making it to her knees she had to pause again, her head was spinning so much from the impact with the hard bark of the tree it was threatening to black out again. She sucked in air through gritted teeth, ignoring the pain, and staggered to her feet.

Vi and Rona had stopped halfway down the hill; Vi was clinging to Rona's arm, holding the darker girl back from entering the fray.

The First was standing a few feet away, managing to look bored and peeved at the same time.

Buffy was to her right, and Faith got to watch with satisfaction as the girl skewered the demon by shoving it into a low branch of a nearby tree. The demon howled with fury as it exploded into dust.

Buffy stepped back, exhausted, and dropped to her knees, one arm clutching her shoulder tightly. Faith stumbled over; Buffy's wound from the battle down in the Hellmouth had been reopened by the übervamp's claws and was now staining crimson over her green shirt. Faith crouched protectively over Buffy, using her hands to try and stop the angry red liquid from further seeping out of the blonde's body.

"Now, I am angry with you both for dusting one of my men," both girls turned their heads to look at The First, "but that was pretty fun to watch."

"Fuck. Off." Faith's voice was low and deadly.

The form imitating Spike rolled its eyes, "Really. Is that all you've got? A little curse from the little girl?"

"How about: go fuck yourself and leave us the hell alone?" Buffy growled.

If not for the current circumstances, Faith would have smirked at Buffy's outburst.

"Really girls, that was quite pathetic. You, Buffy," it said, looking at the blonde and sneering, "You couldn't even recognize I wasn't your boy-toy. What does that say about your relationship? About your leadership skills? Are you really ready to lead your sad little army into battle if you can't even recognize what it is you're fighting? All I had to do was lay on the 'This way, pet' and 'I'm so devoted to you Buffy, I'd follow you to the ends of the earth' and you bought it."

The older Slayer had stiffened in Faith's arms, clearly affected by The First's words.

It had Spike's mannerisms down pat. The way he enunciated his words, his accent, the way he moved his hands; it was a perfect replica. Faith didn't blame Buffy for being fooled by it. Hell, they'd all been fooled by it.

"At least I'm not pathetic enough to need to borrow someone else's form to taunt people," Buffy retorted, but Faith could hear the lack of venom in her voice. Buffy was shaken.

Faith pulled off her jacket and ripped the thin black fabric, tying one of the now removed arms around Buffy's shoulder to try and stop the bleeding. For once not wearing her leather jacket was a good thing. The blonde whimpered slightly but didn't protest her actions.

"And what clued you in, Faith, that all was not as it appeared?"

The brunette's hands fumbled as she tied-off the make-shift bandage, aware of the new voice The First had taken-on.

"Was it your superior mind? No, probably not," it laughed. "And it can't have been your Slayer senses; you were never in-tuned with those as much as our Buffy was." It was speaking as if it were the body it now inhabited, not an evil blood-thirsty ghost.

The masculine laugh echoed around them, "So just a lucky break then? That sounds more like you. Buffy may be a joke of a superhero, but you aren't even half the Slayer she is."

Faith didn't look up; she focused on her hands as they dug into the blonde's arm. She heard Buffy wince as her grip tightened, but Buffy didn't ask her to let go. She was just as affected by what was going on as Faith was.

"What's this? No fancy comeback?" Angel's voice asked. "Prison really did make you grow soft, didn't it?" The First addressed Buffy again, "You should have seen her back in L.A. Buff; it was pathetic. Let herself get walked over by big, scary Angelus."

"You aren't him," Faith growled, finally looking up.

She shouldn't have, it looked painfully too similar to Angel. Despite how much she knew it wasn't real, part of her was still fooled by the illusion, hurt by Angel's comments, even though it wasn't him. The doubts she had about herself, about Angel's confidence in her redemption, were starting to surface just by looking at the false image of the vampire.

"That's where you're wrong," it laughed Angel's laugh. "I _am_ him. I'm the darkness that lives inside you all. I'm the thing that evil fears. I'm the darkness inside your little ensouled vampire's mind. I am him. I _am_ every human body I inhabit; I know all their darkest secrets. And you both know it. Everything I say is true." It smiled a wicked smile, "And you, Faith, are pathetic."

It turned to look at Buffy again, "I'm really disappointed in you too, Buffy. Clearly after I left Sunnydale you fell apart. Look at you. One nasty cut and you're sitting on the ground crying like a little girl? And you claim to be the leader? Those little girls follow you around like sheep. At least I'm doing good in L.A., helping people. Can you even help yourself? Can you honestly say you've accomplished anything this past year, besides acting like a helpless, bratty child?"

Buffy's voice wavered, not filled with its usual passion, "Get out of here."

"Oh, yeah, that's real convincing, Buff. Do you want some meek along with that order of lame? Just give in; you're in way over your head. Give up now, and you might just make it out of this battle alive. That is, before I send your world to hell." It laughed, polluting Angel's voice with its dark malice, making both girls shiver at how real and heartless it sounded.

"I'll leave you two here to sort out when the white-hats are going to wave their white flag." Angel's form turned, eyeing the two Potentials that had snuck up behind it. It looked back at the Slayers, "Really Buffy, I'm unimpressed. Don't your little sheep know they can't touch me?" It addressed the Potentials, "Hey, girls? Non-corporeal. You can't hit me. It won't work."

It turned again, looking Faith right in the eye, sending a chill right down to the marrow of her bones with how much it looked like Angel, how much it _was _Angel, and added with a shake of its head, "Just pathetic."

There was a small flash of light, and The First vanished.

* * *

Tenisha was the first one to notice them as they made their way through the cemetery, "Hey," she called out to her group. "It's Buffy." The dark-skinned girl with red streaks in her hair jogged forward a few paces to meet them. "What happened to you guys?" She asked, taking in the group. When no one answered she blanched, "Oh, God. What happened?"

"Ran into an übervamp," Faith said dryly as Spike and the other Potentials approached.

"Is everyone okay?" Spike asked, concerned. "Buffy, you're hurt," he said, reaching a hand out.

The blonde Slayer shied away, her body pressing slightly against Faith's. "I'm fine," she stated, though everyone could tell it was a lie.

Faith's eyes made contact with Kennedy's, gestured with her eyes at the rest of the Potentials and then looked back at Kennedy. The younger brunette nodded slowly, comprehending. Faith wanted time alone with Buffy and Spike. "Come on," she said quietly, nudging Molly next to her, "Let's head back. Vi and Rona can tell us all about it."

The group began to make their way back to Revello drive, Kennedy and the other Potentials up ahead. They were far enough that they would have to strain to hear the conversation occurring behind them, but still in Faith's line of sight.

The brunette walked slowly with Buffy next to her. The blonde wasn't quite touching her – she clearly didn't want to be touched right now - but she was crowding Faith and in her personal space. She was seeking comfort from her sister Slayer, still shaken up from what had transpired earlier. Faith wasn't much for offering comfort or physical contact – except when it came to Willow – but she knew Buffy needed this from her. Being around the actual Spike was probably overwhelming for her.

Spike was on Buffy's other side, stealing glances at them, waiting for someone to tell him what happened. "Well aren't you two just the giggle twins."

Faith sighed, knowing Buffy wasn't going to say anything. "Buffy had a nice little dance with an übervamp," she offered.

The bleach blonde man looked worried, "Where were you?"

"Running to help her. And hey, I got my ass kicked too; don't think it was just her."

"It's dead though?"

"She dusted it, yeah." Faith felt bad, speaking about Buffy as if she wasn't even there.

"Kind of random," Spike continued. "It was just the one?"

"Uh… no. The… The First was there."

The vampire nodded. "Who was it this time?" he sighed.

"It… um… it…"

"It was you," Buffy said quietly.

It took a moment for Spike to register her words. "Me?"

"Yeah," Buffy's voice was small, childlike. "I… I didn't realize it wasn't…"

"Oh," was all Spike said, understanding the words Buffy hadn't spoken.

"It was Angel too," Faith said after a while of walking in silence. "Said some nasty things. God, that thing loves to hear itself talk," the joking comment was only half delivered, she didn't have the energy and knew she didn't have the audience for her full sarcasm.

"You're okay, though?" Spike asked, looking at Buffy.

She nodded but kept her eyes down.

"Buffy, whatever it told you, it wasn't me. I'm real," he said, laying a hand on her good shoulder gently. "It's okay now."

Faith watched Buffy turn to look at Spike, her eyes damp. She opened her mouth to say something, sighed, and closed it again.


	48. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

It was sometime after midnight that Willow realized she wouldn't be able to fall asleep, not while the others were on patrol. It wasn't like they had gone looking for a fight, but it still made Willow uneasy. To pass the time she'd opted to do laundry. The Potential count was up to twenty three now with the new additions from the battle down in the Hellmouth, Alana and Rebekah, and including the Scoobies they were now housing thirty three people.

Which meant there was _a lot_ of laundry to do. First up, folding the clean stuff, then sorting the dirty.

And seeing as how it was the middle of the night there weren't a whole lot of options to spread out all the clothes that needed to be sorted and folded. The redhead had moved all the research books to one end of the dining room table and set up camp at the other end.

Willow had been folding for a little while when she heard the front door open. She looked up to see the five teens make their way into the house first. They were trying to be quiet, whispering their argument of who would get to shower then and who would have to wait until morning.

Spike came in next; he stormed right past Willow into the kitchen, where she heard the bang of the back door slamming.

_Well that isn't good._

When Faith and Buffy came in last Willow could see something was wrong. Buffy was bleeding.

"Oh Goddess, what happened?"

Faith looked up, not realizing the redhead was in the dining room. She nodded, "Hey. Here, B, let's get you sitting down." Faith steered the blonde into the room with Willow, sat her down in a free chair, and then went to find a first aid kit.

Willow didn't hesitate, she quickly set to work peeling back the bloodied shirt and grabbed a towel – freshly cleaned – to wipe up the blood. It wasn't bleeding profusely, and no one else was injured, so Willow's sense of worry receded, marginally.

"Oh, Buffy, what happened?"

The Slayer didn't answer, simply looked blankly ahead, a small frown set on her face.

"You got this?" Faith asked when she returned with the bandages.

Willow nodded, "What happened?"

"Just a little run-in with an übervamp, we handled it."

"Is everyone else alright?"

Faith's eyes flicked past Willow into the kitchen, where Spike had stormed off, and then landed back on the blonde. "Uh… pretty much."

"Faith?"

The younger Slayer was standing in the doorway, looking at Buffy's back while Willow cleaned the blonde's wounds. She caught Willow's eye, nodded her head at Buffy, and mouthed, 'She saw The First' to Willow.

The redhead's hands fumbled a moment. That was just what Buffy needed; more taunting from the ghost demon.

Faith looked… jumpy. Her hands were flexing and un-flexing at her sides and she seemed agitated, her eyes roaming around the room again before landing back at Willow and Buffy.

Willow wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but clearly it had put Buffy, Spike, and Faith in a weird mood.

"It's been a little crazy tonight," Faith continued, her eyes holding Willow's, "I was gonna go cool off out front, have a smoke." She looked forcefully at Willow, nodded to Buffy, and then mouthed, 'Get her to talk about it' before leaving through the front door.

Willow took in what had just happened over the last few minutes and translated the events of that night in her head: Something bad happened. An übervamp had slashed Buffy's shoulder. The First had said something to her that was making her act all weird and not-talk-y. Spike was in a pissy mood; Buffy had probably blown up at him. And Faith was trying to avoid having Buffy blow up at her by leaving the room – good plan. All this left Willow to figure out what happened on her own.

"Buffy," Willow said softly, moving one of the laundry baskets off a chair and sitting in front of her friend. "What happened. You look… spooked."

"I messed up, Will." Buffy's voice was hushed and laced with hurt. She was biting her lip and Willow could see her eyes were glossy.

"Tell me what happened," Willow insisted softly. "Why is Faith afraid to come in here, and why did Spike storm out."

"Spike's mad… a-at me."

_Well Buffy, I had figured that._

"Why is he mad at you, I thought you two were getting along."

"I… I wouldn't talk to him."

Now that was not the answer the witch was expecting. He was mad because she wouldn't talk to him? That was… different. How was she supposed to work with that?

"Buff, you have to give me a little more than that."

The Slayer's eyes skipped away, looking at the China cabinet rather than at Willow. "The… The First. I… I saw it."

Willow's look was sympathetic, despite the fact that Buffy wasn't making eye contact with her, "Who was it?"

Buffy shook her head no; her hair tossed around her face as she squeezed her eyes closed. For a few stretched out seconds she stayed like this, almost as if she were afraid to move for fear she'd break down. When she'd composed herself marginally she opened her eyes. They glistened with unshed tears. The Slayer looked so vulnerable, so broken. Willow's heart melted. Moving her chair closer she pulled Buffy into her arms.

"It's okay, Buffy. I'm here, I've got you. It can't hurt you here. It's gone," the redhead said in a gentle voice, rubbing Buffy's back as the Slayer clung to her for dear life.

Buffy had been holding it together for a while now. Ever since The First, the blonde Slayer had been taking beating after beating. The stress of not only being the Slayer for the Scoobies, but also trying to be the leader for the Potentials was wearing her down. And the physical beatings she was taking weren't helping. She was trying to keep everyone around her alive, and doing that was taking its toll on her.

Willow held her as she cried, letting the Slayer take as long as she needed to shed the overwhelming emotions she was drowning in. After some time Buffy pulled back; her cheeks were red and tear stained, and she still looked like she was going to break at any moment, but she pulled out of her friend's embrace, wanting to talk.

Buffy's voice was a whisper, "Thanks."

The redhead smiled, "We haven't had a nice best-friend cuddle in a while. You're okay now, though?"

Buffy shook her head, "No. Not at all."

"Buffy, what happened?"

"It… it was Spike."

"Spike made you upset?"

"No, it… The First, it was Spike. It came to me as Spike."

_Oh._

_Oh!_

With that one little admission all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Now Willow understood exactly what had happened that night and why Buffy was at her breaking point.

_Oh, poor Buffy._

"I… Willow, I didn't realize it wasn't him. I didn't… I couldn't tell the difference. I didn't even think that it wasn't him."

"Buffy, how could you have known?"

"Because it's Spike, Wills. It's Spike." She said it with such affirmation, like that was reason enough for her. It seemed that, to Buffy, it was excusable for anyone else not to have known, but not for her. She knew the vampire intimately, and in her world she should have noticed the difference.

"Buffy, that isn't your-"

"Willow, I should have known it wasn't him. How could I have not seen it? I know Spike. God, I know him better than anyone else in this house. And I couldn't see it was some doppelganger? What does that say about me?"

"It means your human, Buffy."

The blonde went on as if Willow hadn't spoken, "What does that say about me as a leader? I'm supposed to lead these girls, to protect and save everyone, and I can't even recognize the thing we're fighting? Willow… it's Spike. I… I should have been able to see that it was The First. Spike… he's… I should have known it wasn't him."

Willow was trying to go about this gently. Spike was a delicate topic when it came to the blonde Slayer. Their relationship had gone through so many changes over the years, to the point where now their lives were completely intermingled. Buffy and Spike, despite all the bad blood between them, were still intimately involved in each other's lives. Willow couldn't say for sure that they were lovers in a physical sense anymore, but it was plainly obvious how much they cared for each other. They were both changed people because the other had come into their life.

"Buff, we've all been fooled by The First. That's what it does. It manipulates and controls and distorts everything around it. No one's going to blame you, I promise."

"But I'm supposed to be the leader, Willow. I'm supposed to see the danger and tackle it head on. That's what the Slayer is. I protect. God, if it weren't for Faith… would I have even noticed it wasn't him? Would I have seen that it wasn't the man I l– would I have seen it wasn't Spike, or just followed right into its trap?"

"Buffy-"

"Damn it, Willow. I'm so stupid. I trusted it. I put my trust in _that thing_ because I couldn't see it wasn't Spike. And, and the things it said-"

Willow put a stop to her friend's train of thought right there. "Buffy," she said sternly, "Whatever it said to you, it wasn't real. Whatever it made you believe, it wasn't the truth."

"But it was, Willow. Everything it says is true."

"No, Buffy. Everything it says is a warped, distorted version of the truth. Buff, you're doing exactly what it wants you to. You're doubting yourself; as a leader, as a lover, and as a Slayer. You can't let it get to you. It wasn't Spike. Spike cares about you and would do anything for you, anything to protect you. He wouldn't lead you off to your death with false promises and twisted versions of the truth."

"So why couldn't I see the difference? Why couldn't I tell it wasn't him?"

The witch wisely chose not to answer that one. She had a few theories, the main being that Buffy was too clouded by her feelings for the vampire to have noticed the fake. She was too caught up in simply being in his company to notice what wasn't real. But the redhead was not about to vocalize this.

"Willow, I can't do this, I can't-" her voice broke. "I can't keep pretending everything's okay and that we're gonna make it."

"Buffy, don't-"

"I can't Will, I can't keep doing this. I can't be the strong one anymore. I'm drowning trying to keep everything together."

"Buffy, we'll get through this."

The Slayer's voice was a whisper, "But what if we can't." The honest belief in Buffy's eyes scared Willow. "What happens if we don't?"

"Buffy, you're letting The First win. You're letting it weaken you. I know this is hard; we're all feeling it. And I get how difficult it is for you, having us all look to you for what to do. But you can't let this one moment break you," the witch's own voice was wavering by this point, trying not to let Buffy's negativity seep into her. "This whole fight, you've been telling us we can do this. You've been the one telling us not to lose hope. You've been the one pushing us forward because deep down you _know_ we can beat this."

Buffy's hands were shaking, "How, Will. How can we beat this? We can't… we can't touch it. We can't fight it, it's too strong. We have no idea what we're doing."

Willow truly didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say to make this better, didn't know how to sugar coat her words to make Buffy feel better.

How was she supposed to give a pep-talk to Buffy, when Buffy was always the one giving the pep talks? This whole year, Buffy had been the one giving the speeches and pushing them to keep going.

What are you supposed to do then the one person who knows what she's doing falls apart?

"Buffy, I can't tell you how to win this. I don't have the answers, none of us do. But we still keep fighting, we always do. How many other times has it gotten so bad we all feel like giving up? Like just letting evil win for once? With The Master? With Glory? Buffy, I nearly gave up fighting the darkness in myself and just letting it win. But I didn't, and we got through it. We just… that's what we do. We have to keep going, because what other choice do we have?"

The Slayer took in Willow's words, and for a moment the redhead thought she'd reached Buffy, but after a long stretch of silence Buffy stood up, pushed in her chair, and whispered, "I can't do this."

And Willow watched with sad eyes as Buffy walked into the kitchen, opened the basement door, and stepped downstairs.

* * *

Willow sat in her chair for a long time after Buffy left the room. Eventually she went back to her original task; silently she finished folding the clean laundry and left it in neat piles on the dining room table. Then she sorted the dirty clothes, filled one of the baskets with some of the darks, and carried it from the room.

She made it to the kitchen and then stalled. Looking out the window she could see it was pitch black outside. She didn't look at the clock on the microwave; the redhead didn't want to know just how late it was. Taking a step towards the basement door she hesitated.

She was tired. She was tired, and depressed, and wanted to go to sleep. She wanted to put in the load of laundry, go upstairs, and sleep.

But Buffy was downstairs. Buffy had opted out of sleeping in her own room a few days ago; now it housed Xander, Anya, and a few of the Potentials and Buffy herself was staying in the basement with Spike.

Logically, it was a good use of space. None of the Potentials wanted to bunk in the basement with the vampire, despite how much room there was down there.

Realistically, Willow figured that, whether or not the Slayer and vampire were actually sleeping together, they still enjoyed and took comfort from each other's company.

There wasn't any yelling coming from the basement; if Spike was down there he and Buffy weren't arguing.

But did she really want to risk it? She could just leave the basket in the kitchen and be done with it?

_Whatever,_ she though. _I don't care. I'm too tired for all this. _Walking to the basement door, she shifted the laundry basket to one hip, opened the door and made her way down the first half of the stairs.

And then she stopped.

Spike and Buffy were standing off to one side of the room, partially hidden in the shadows cast by the only lit overhead light bulb.

Slayer and vampire were wrapped in a tight embrace. Buffy had her head resting against Spike's chest, and he had his forehead pressed into the top of her head. Their arms were around each other; hers locked around his upper back, his encircling her lower back in a protective hold. Both had their eyes closed. There were tear tracks on Buffy's cheeks.

Buffy's body sagged into his, she was so exhausted her legs could hardly hold her. But Spike held her tightly, supporting her as if she didn't weigh more than a feather.

They didn't speak. They simply stood, holding each other.

The pair hadn't noticed the witch's presence, and didn't move when she backed up the stairs to leave them some peace. Buffy had been shaken from her encounter with The First, probably more than she had admitted to Willow, and it would be a little while before she was back to herself. But the fact that she was drawing comfort from the same person whose image had shaken her in the first place meant all hope wasn't lost.


	49. February 10, 1998

_**February 10, 1998**_

She'd been transferred. Again.

From the moment she had been held back as they took her sister away, Faith had been labelled as one of the _troubled cases._ For three days Faith sat in her room, not speaking, not coming down for meals, and essentially ignoring everything going on around her. She was mad at the world for taking Dani away, and she was mad at herself for letting it happen. She was supposed to protect Dani. That was her job. That had _always _been her job.

Social Services had arrived a few days later to take her away too, placing her in what they hoped would be a better foster home. Faith was just as difficult there. She was suspended from school within a week.

Though that wasn't her fault completely. She hadn't spoken at the new school, choosing to ignore everyone around her. After lunch on her fifth day, on her way to her next class, some kids had cornered her. A string of nasty names later and after shoving _her_ into a bank of lockers Faith had let loose her frustrations; one boy had received a nasty kick to the groin, the other boy had a black eye, and she was fairly sure she'd broken the girl's nose.

Faith wasn't a lot, body weight wise. At fourteen she was extremely thin and had little muscle mass. Most of her strength came more from sheer force of will and experience in scrap fighting with the other foster kids. Unfortunately, at school she was labelled as an easy target.

The next two years saw Faith bouncing from foster home to foster home. She wasn't trying to be difficult; she wasn't _trying_ to get herself in trouble. But it seemed no matter where she went, she was easily written off as pure Southie white trash. Tall but thin, dark hair and dark eyes with a pale complexion, quiet and keeping to herself most of the time; people went after her. People; as in kids at school, other foster kids, and even some of the foster parents.

Faith tried, she really did. She'd had a few counselling secessions with someone from Social Services; the man had told her that she as a very personable and intelligent girl, she simply had anger issues and was probably dealing with post-traumatic stress over losing her mother and having her sister taken away in such a short period of time.

It didn't matter how hard Faith tried to fit in; she could fake smiles and be social and try not to get in fights till the cows came home. But once you were labelled a _troubled case_ in the system two things happened. One, foster parents gave up on you easily, opting to ship you off the moment a difficult situation came up. Two, the other foster children seemed to _know _when you were given such a label, and went out of their way to pick fights and get you in trouble. Resulting in you being transferred to another home, where it happened all over again.

Faith didn't keep track of how many homes she'd passed through. She didn't want to know exactly how many people had given up on her. She knew her life wasn't worth anything; she didn't need any physical evidence. Her day to day life was enough.

Age sixteen now, the reason for her most current transfer was a combination of things. First, she'd already pissed the Sajeckis off because she'd run off one night, snuck on a city bus, and made her way to the institution Dani was staying at, Stone Manor. Faith knew she had to keep visiting Dani; the girl looked more and more miserable every time Faith saw her, but Dani's face always lit up when she saw her sister. If Faith could make her sister's life a little easier by being there for her as often as possible, even when the foster families she was staying with refused to take her, then she'd visit every chance she could.

The second reason for her transfer was her most current suspension.

The drugs had not been hers. The drugs had most definitely _not been hers._ Faith had seen her mother high as a kite often enough to never want to try them. Watching Lara waste away right in front of her had not been a pleasant childhood. Booze was one thing, but drugs were not her scene.

So when the guy sitting behind her in English had offered to sell to her and she'd dismissively declined – and then more forcefully declined when he'd pushed further – it had apparently been a perfect opportunity for the snotty bitches sitting in front of her to plant the drugs in her locker and then tip off a teacher.

Of course, Faith couldn't prove they weren't hers. And she couldn't prove it was the snotty bitches who had planted them.

Suspension. And an, "I'm aware of your situation as a foster child, and I know that can be difficult, so be grateful I'm not expelling you," from the principal. That night Mr. Sajecki had caught her in the hall and told her Social Services would be there in an hour to pick her up, so she'd better go and pack up her things.

Faith had been fuming. Given, it wasn't like she had a whole mass of personal belongings, it had only taken her fifteen minutes to pack her possessions into her duffle bag, but it still hurt. The man couldn't even bother to let her stay the rest of the night. He couldn't be bothered to give her more than an hour to deal with the fact that she'd been given up on again.

So the brunette hadn't felt that bad when she'd broken the lamp in her room, letting it smash to the ground and not caring to pick up the pieces.

The woman who'd picked her up from the social services building that evening was not at all what Faith was expecting. For one, she was old. Older than any of the foster families Faith had stayed with. She was like, grandmother old. Two, she smiled. A lot. Most of the families showed varying degrees of pleasantness about their taking-in of misfortunate children, but they never smiled, not like this.

Professor Diana Dormer; she lectured history at the university. She was round, greying, with smart eyes and rosy cheeks. She had an accent from somewhere in England. She wore a tweet dress and cardigan and carried a heavy leather handbag. And she smiled at Faith when she saw her.

Faith didn't speak in the car. She spent her time looking out the window and memorizing the scenery. Faith knew her city. She'd been all over the map of Boston, both being carted around by her whore of a mother, and then over the years of house-jumping as a foster child. The teen let her eyes roam over the roads, recognizing familiar areas and learning the areas she didn't, should she never need to skip out on Mrs. Dormer.

"Ah, here we are."

Faith took in the house. It was large and old looking, in a fancier neighbourhood of Boston. She couldn't see the garden, it was the dead of winter and the lawn was covered in a thin layer of snow, but she figured Mrs. Dormer was a flower lady. She looked like she'd be the kind who loved flower beds and pots and all that.

"It's big," Faith offered. She tried to be polite; it wasn't the old woman's fault that Faith had lost her trust in people.

"Yes, quite. It gets lonely for an old broad like me, that's why I looked into fostering a child."

"You've never done this before?"

"Nope, nope. You're my first one."

Faith's eyes widened. This was going to be interesting.

The Professor unlocked the door and ushered Faith into the front hall, taking her coat and hanging it in the closet. "Here, why don't we get you settled in your room, hmm?"

"Uh… sure."

The woman led Faith up the stairs and down the hall into a room on the far right. Mrs. Dormer stood aside, letting Faith step in first.

It was big, the biggest bedroom Faith had ever seen.

There was dark wood panelling on the lower half of the walls, completely encircling the room. The upper half of the walls was a creamy white. A high bed sat in the middle of the far wall, with a thick, cream-coloured comforter and an assortment of beige pillows. Matching the panelling on the walls was a wardrobe and vanity, along with a window seat looking out on the front lawn.

The place looked like a room straight out of a home decorating magazine; old-fashioned maybe, but stunning nonetheless. Had Faith stepped inside a modern-day castle?

"Well, what do you think?"

"Wow. It… this, this is where I'm staying?"

"Unless you'd like to sleep in the pantry, I would hope so."

Faith swallowed. Clearly the woman was well off. Lecturing at a university was obviously the way to do in this day and age.

"Why don't you unpack your things; I'll start on supper. Is there anything special you'd like?"

Faith turned to look at the woman, "What?"

"Supper. You know, the meal you have at the end of the day. Food, my dear, natural fuel you put in your body so you're energized for the next morning. Is there anything special you'd like me to make you? It is your first night here."

"I…"

"Don't you have a favourite food?"

Faith considered this for a moment. She'd never really thought about it. Her life had been more about taking what she could get and not complaining. She'd never had the luxury of eating one special meal that became her favourite.

Dani liked hot dogs. When they were younger Faith would take Dani on walks through the park after school, her sister begging Faith to buy the hot dogs from the sidewalk vendors. It wasn't Faith's favourite food, but it was Dani's.

"C-can…" Faith felt awkward, requesting food like this from the woman. She'd always taken what Lara or the foster families had given her, or learned to fend for herself when she and Dani were left alone. "Can you make hotdogs?"

The professor smiled, "Sure thing, Isabel."

"Faith," she corrected quietly.

"Hmm?"

"I… I like being called Faith; m-my middle name."

"Of course. And you can call me Diana, or Professor if you'd like."

Faith nodded, still weary. This woman was… well she was a lot more homely and humble than anyone Faith had ever met. She seemed nice enough, but so had most of the other families she'd stayed with at first glance. The teen had learned the best way to go about fostering was to try to stay as out of the way and without comment as much as possible.

"Alright, why don't you go and explore the house, I'll get started on supper. Though, I'd ask you stay out of my bedroom – the one at the end of the hall. And old maid likes to have some privacy." She smiled at Faith again and left the room.

Normally Faith would have done just the opposite and gone snooping where she'd been told not to. But the Professor had yet to do anything to make Faith feel this was necessary. Faith was apprehensive, but the woman seemed nice.

Along with Diana's room, there was a washroom and another spare bedroom upstairs. Downstairs, next to the front hall was the kitchen. Faith peeked inside but didn't enter into the room, letting the older woman prepare their diner without disruption. There was a small dining room behind the kitchen. The large table was half covered in stacks of books and rolls of paper.

Next to the dining room was a room with a couch and television set; Faith wanted to call this the parlour. Diana didn't seem like a 'family room' person, seemed like the kind of woman to have an actual parlour. Along one wall was a low glass cabinet that housed an old record player and stacks of records. There was also a wicker-topped coffee table. Sitting on this was a few coasters, a paperback novel, the television remote, a tall black candle, and an ivory statue of an elephant.

Unable to resist the temptation, the brunette picked up the figurine. It was about the size of a baseball, but much heavier. The animal had its trunk held high salute, its wrinkles intricately carved into the cream-coloured surface.

Placing the elephant back where she found it, Faith continued her exploration. The only other room on the main floor was at the back of the house. Opening the door Faith gasped.

_Did I get taken in by a freakin' librarian?_

The room was clearly a library. There was no other word to describe it. All four walls were lined with bookshelves and overflowing with books. Faith knew the woman was a history buff, but this, this was more than unnecessary. This was insane. _Why_ would someone need this many books?

There was a dark wood work table in the center of the room along with high backed chairs. There was also a smaller table off to one side of the room, displaying a world globe and a tea tray. But essentially, the room was full of books.

Clearly the woman was insane.

Sometime later found the teen and the professor sitting in the dining room, eating hotdogs and salad. Faith didn't protest at the greens; Diana had made the hotdogs appear upon Faith's request, she figured she could live through eating the less enjoyable part of the meal.

"You don't seem too thrilled about the hotdogs. Did I not cook them through?"

"No… they're fine," Faith said, dragging her fork through the salad but not eating it. "It's just…"

"You're still adjusting."

Faith tried to offer a smile, but it came out more like a grimace.

"I'm aware some of the homes you've lived in have not been… satisfactory, but I assure you Faith, I am different from those people. I'd like to help you."

Faith nodded, but didn't make eye contact; she focused on a point just over the older woman's shoulder.

"About your schooling, Faith. Unless we make other arrangements, you are still registered at your previous school."

"Which means I'm still suspended."

"Ah, yes. Quite. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about that at the present moment."

"I didn't do it. They weren't mine," the brunette said quietly.

Diana sighed, "I didn't think they were, Faith. You seem like a bright girl. Nor does your appearance or behaviour strike me as someone who would feel the need to hide contraband in their assigned locker. That being said, you are still suspended for the next seven school days unless other arrangements can be made."

"Meaning…"

"Let me handle things," the woman said dismissively.

The brunette nodded and went back to picking at her food; now she was using her fork to destroy the bun wrapped around the hotdog she'd only eaten half of.

"Faith, is something the matter?"

"I'm not really hungry anymore."

The woman frowned, "I thought you liked hotdogs."

Faith looked away. Sure, she liked them as much as the next girl, but it had been a stupid idea to ask for them. Now all she was thinking about was Dani and how much she wished her sister was there with her. Transferring homes had been so much easier when Dani was with her, she hadn't felt so alone or unwelcomed with Dani's bright smile.

"Faith?"

"I… I do," she said, "Like them. Thanks, for making them. It's just… they aren't my favourite… they're Dani's."

"Who?"

"My sister, Daniela."

"Ah," the woman said knowingly. She'd probably been given a file all about Faith and her life's history, so of course she knew who Faith was talking about. The file was probably overflowing, giving Faith's history.

"You… you know what happened to her." Faith stated.

"Yes," Diana smiled tenderly, "I'm aware your sister has been put into psychiatric care. You miss her, don't you?"

Faith didn't answer. She felt stupid. She shouldn't have said anything. She didn't want this woman's pity, didn't want her to feel sorry for her. All Faith wanted was to have Dani back and away from that place.

She was supposed to play the part of the indignant, tough girl. Not the whiny cry baby.

"Would you like me to see about arranging a visit with her?"

Faith's head shot up and her fork clattered against the plate, "What did you say?"

Diana repeated herself, "Would you like me to see about arranging a visit? I could call the hospital and see when their visiting hours are, if that would make you feel better."

Faith was at a loss. No one, _no one,_ had ever offered to take her to see Dani. There had been obligatory meetings arranged by Social Services, and she had managed to convince a few of the foster parents to take her to go visit, but no one had ever offered to take her of their own free will. No one had ever shown any interest in Faith's care for her sister.

Opening her mouth to answer, Faith hesitated in her reply. Why was this woman being so kind to her?

"You… you'd do that?"

"I'm not a grouchy old maid, dear. And I know what it's like being away from siblings; my sister lives in England. I haven't seen her in a long time and I miss her greatly.

"Faith, I know you've had a difficult time growing up. I won't lie to you; I've been informed about your childhood. And I know you expect me to behave as all your other foster parents have. But I do care, Faith. I don't like seeing anyone upset, much less a girl as young as you are." A smile graced her lips, "You're too young for frown lines. Now then, if you promise to finish what's on your plate, I promise to call about letting you visit your sister. How does that sound?"


	50. February 11, 1998

_**February 11, 1998**_

Faith was surprised at how well she slept. Her first night at a new home usually entailed a restless sleep plagued with nightmares. But she slept deeply that first night in the Professor's house. Her mind still reminded her of her past in the form of unpleasant dreams, but Faith still slept soundly and more peacefully than she had in a long while. She told herself it was the bedroom. It was the first time in her life she had slept in a room devoted to her and her alone. When living with Lara, Faith had always shared a room with Dani, and in her other foster homes had shared with a number of other kids.

It was almost nine o'clock when Faith made her way downstairs the next morning. She had pulled her hair back and was dressed in track pants and an oversized t-shirt. The teen wanted to take a shower, but felt obligated to ask Diana first. It was her house after all.

She found the elder woman in the kitchen, sipping from a mug of tea and reading a thick leather-bound book.

"Hey," she said, stepping into the kitchen.

"Ah, there you are. I was beginning to wonder; I was aware that teenagers like their sleep, but I was worried you were going to sleep the whole morning away."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that."

"It's quite alright, Faith. Can I get you some tea?"

Faith snorted, "Nah, that's okay. Not big on tea."

"Perhaps some orange juice then," Diana said, getting up and walking towards the fridge.

Faith didn't argue, instead she sat down across from where the woman had been sitting. "Whatcha reading?"

"Oh," Diana laughed, "A book about Darwin, a collection of letters he sent while sailing The Beagle. It's a favourite of mine. Are you interesting in history?"

It was the brunette's turn to laugh, "Uh, no. Not really interested in a lot when it comes to school." She shrugged, "I'm good at geography. Like, directions and maps and stuff. I can find my way from point a. to point b. S'about it. Not big on reading. Or numbers."

"Well, just because you aren't interested now doesn't mean there isn't hope. If there is one thing you'll find in this house, its history books. Perhaps I'll be able to find something that will interest you."

Faith doubted it, but didn't vocalize her thoughts. Better just to leave the woman happy.

A thought struck her. "Did you, uh, did you ask about Dani?"

Diana set a glass of orange juice and a bagel down in front of Faith before taking her previous seat. "I did. The woman I spoke with said Daniela had a setback a few days ago and they're trying her on a new medication. She said the doctor's requested no visitors for your sister until she's adjusted to the new dosage, but she said she'd call back in a few days and let us know."

The small flame of hope inside Faith flickered and weakened, but didn't die completely. She couldn't see Dani today, but she would get too soon.

That was enough for Faith.

* * *

The professor taught both Medieval and European History at the university Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings and gave lectures on Mythology Tuesday mornings, which meant that until Faith's suspension was over, Faith was home alone in the mornings.

Faith had been living with the professor for four days now. She had, feeling like a small child, explored every inch of the house. It was sort of like a museum. Diana had collected a lot of different things during her life. From what Faith assumed, the woman had spent some time in Africa; there were items all over the house to indicate that. In addition to the elephant statue she'd found on her first day there was an ostrich egg, map of southern Africa, and tribal pottery in the library.

The woman seemed to like small but unique knick-knacks. On a shelf in the kitchen was a replica of the Parthenon in Rome, and Faith had snuck a peek in the woman's room and seen a similar model of the Coliseum.

She also, clearly, loved history. Faith still wasn't used to the vast amount of books in Diana's personal library. Shelf upon shelf upon shelf.

It had taken four days, but eventually her curiosity had won over and Faith had opened some of the books. They weren't overly interesting; old journals and letters and descriptions of wars and battles. Boring. It was all about people long dead; what was the point of living if you weren't in the present, right?

Though, Faith discovered, not _all _the books on Diana's shelves contained descriptions of a medieval world.

The teen knew Diana taught mythology in addition to history, but she hadn't realized just how_ into_ the subject she was. There were books on all kinds of mythological creatures – these were the interesting books, Faith found – from all types of religions. There were books on Chinese dragons, European fairies and African beasts. There were stories of Native American spirits, half-human Greek creatures, and Norse tricksters.

But it was all fantasy, Faith rationalized. Why would Diana have so many books on creatures that didn't actually exist?

There was a whole bookshelf dedicated to vampires. Vampire families, vampire sightings, vampire killings. Ways to kill vampires, ways to get killed by vampires, ways the movies made-up about killing vampires.

It was like this that Diana found Faith on the fourth afternoon of her stay; sitting in the library, leaning back in the chair, feet up on the table, a book in her lap.

"I thought you weren't a fan of reading."

Faith's head shot up, startled. Her feet came off the table and the chair landed back on all four legs with a dull thud. A panicked expression covered her face. "Uh…"

"It's quite all right, Faith. I'm not going to scold you for reading. Hardly." She walked towards the brunette, dropping her worn leather teaching bag on the table. "So, what peaked your interest? The Battle of Pliska? The Siege of Lisbon?"

"Um…" Faith closed the book to look at the cover. "The Chronicles of Grie… Grilmo… Gimahr…

"Gilramoires," Diana corrected. Her face pinched slightly, "That's an… interesting choice."

Faith shrugged, "It was on the table. It has pictures. Black and white… but they're still pretty cool. What's a… fyarl demon?"

The Englishwoman answered automatically as she shuffled papers on the table into neater piles, "A very violent breed on demon. Rather unintelligible, but destructive. I believe they can secrete paralyzing mucus from glands on the back of their hands when provoked."

"Nice," Faith said, raising an eyebrow.

"You find the demonology interesting?" Diana asked, smirking slightly.

Another shrug, "It's better than reading about some dumb war hundreds of years ago that changed a border by like, a few hundred feet." She flipped through the book again, "And what's this, this word keeps coming up."

"Hmm?"

"A Slayer?"

Diana dropped the stack of books she had been moving. "What did you say?"

"A Slayer. Is it some kind of demon? The book mentioned it a few times. I've read about half-way through. I don't understand it all, but some of its pretty cool. And this word keeps coming up, something that kills other demons. What is it, a super demon or something?"

The elder woman numbly sat down in an empty chair, looking a little pale.

"Diana?"

"I'm all right. Just… surprised. I wasn't expecting it to come about quite like this."

"You what?"

"I guess its best I answer your question first, and we will go from there. A Slayer is… well to put it simply, a Slayer is a demon fighter. A human girl gifted with the power to stop the spread of evil. Particularly that of vampires."

"This thing's human?"

It was Diana's turn to sigh, "To quote the lore, 'into every generation a Slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a Chosen One. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer.'"

"So… some kind of ancient Lady Hercules?"

"The Slayer isn't ancient Faith. Well, she is, but she is still alive today."

Faith leaned forward, giving the older woman a long, hard look. "We are still talking about like, myths and fairy tales, right? You don't actually think all this is real, do you?"

The smile Diana gave made Faith reconsider just how great this living arrangement was. Had the old woman lost it?

"Faith, I assure you, everything you read in these books is real. Demons, magic, other realms; all of it exists."

"When you smoke the happy stuff, yeah. You do know this," she gestured around the room, "is scary. You can't believe this is real. Monsters don't exist. I'm not a kid. I'm not an idiot."

"Faith," Diana said gently, "I'm not trying to fool you. I want you to believe me."

The brunette looked sceptically at the professor. There wasn't any hint of deceit or pretence in her eyes. It didn't look like she was trying to con Faith, to be dishonest or make the teen feel gullible. She looked like the same old, kind woman she'd been the last few days.

"Prove it."

"Pardon me?"

"Prove it," Faith repeated. "You think monsters are real, then prove it."

"Faith, surely all the literature in this room is proof enough. The sheer volume of demonic accounts here-"

"Books can lie. People can lie. You want me to believe you, you want me to trust you, then prove it."

"Very well. We shall go out to the cemetery tonight."

Warning bells clanged inside Faith's head. You don't just _go to the cemetery _at night_._ No, if you went to the cemetery at night it was not just _to go_ but to _get killed_ because the person taking you was a serial killer. They took you to a secluded, spooky place, distracted you with some ghost story, and then broke out the chain saw. That was how it worked.

No way was Faith going to go for this. Even if it was Diana. The woman who, though Faith had only known her four days, the teen knew wouldn't be capable of hurting a mouse. Diana's personality and appearance screamed gentle and grandmotherly. Faith had _accepted_ this woman, but she had not _trusted _her yet. And would not be going for a stroll in a park full of dead people just because Diana asked her to.

"Uh, no way."

Diana sighed, exasperated.

"Look," Faith said, "I get that you're really into this. Whatever this is. Like, you can go out and do those weird battler e-enactments or whatever. And you can believe all you want that fairies exist. But I am not going into a cemetery with you in the middle of the night."

Diana seemed to ponder her answer a moment, "Well, I can see how that would have sounded to your ears. But Faith, I'm not really sure how to, as you put it, prove this to you without letting you glimpse a real vampire.

"I'm not sure how to make you believe me, Faith, besides being truthful with you. My name is Diana Dormer, I teach at the university, and I was sent here specifically to find you."

_You have got to be kidding me. _

"I'm a member of… well, you would consider them to be a, a sort of secret society. I am a member of the Watcher's Council of England. We are a group of people who dedicate our lives to stopping the spread of evil, specifically in supporting the Slayer and all she need."

"So, there is a whole family of whack-jobs living in England then. Great," Faith said, deflecting to sarcasm. She wasn't sure exactly how to deal with what the insane bat sitting in front of her was saying, but sarcasm seemed like a likely defence choice.

"Faith, I'm aware that this is a rather difficult idea to grasp for you, but believe me in that I speak the truth. Vampires, demons, monsters, they all exist. And I'm one of a small group of people who try to put a stop to them."

"No offense, but you're an old lady. How exactly do you expect me to believe you kill vampires every night."

"I myself don't do away with the demons, Faith. I'm a Watcher. It is my job to train, prepare and educate young girls should they be the one Chosen as the Slayer."

Faith could not hold off the eye roll, "And… you're saying you came here specifically for me. You think I'm some special girl?"

"You are, Faith. You are what is called a Potential. You possess somewhat enhanced physical abilities and awareness for the dark creatures around you. And, should the current Slayer pass on, it is possible that you would become her successor."

"This is crazy," Faith said, standing up and backing away from the table a few steps. "This," she gestured around her, "this is all crazy."

Diana stayed passive, "I'm not trying to alarm you, Faith. I'm aware that this is a lot for you to take in. But I am here to help you, to protect and prepare you. Come with me tonight, and I can show you a real demon and you can judge for yourself if I'm sane or not." The professor stood up as well, "I'll leave you alone to process this," she said, "I'll go start on some dinner."

The woman pointed to the shelf behind the display table, "Read through those books," she said gently, giving Faith an even smile. "Among those books you will find all the accounts you need as proof that I'm not fooling you. That shelf contains the diaries of other Watchers, ones specifically who looked after previous Slayers. Read through them, and come with me tonight to let me show you I'm not bluffing. And, after tonight, you still do not believe me, then I can accept this. I will make sure you are properly enrolled back in school, and I will care and provide for you as your foster parent, and I won't force this upon you anymore.

"But Faith," she continued gently, looking Faith in the eye, "Give me until at least tonight before you give up on me."

And with that she left the room.

Faith stood stunned a moment. Who the hell was this woman and where the hell did she get off? When had Faith been sucked into the house of a demon-crazy psychopath?

But damn it, it was like she knew exactly what to say to the teen. Diana knew exactly what to say to make Faith feel guilty enough to at least humour the woman until sundown.

She'd asked Faith not to give up on her.

It was what everyone in Faith's life did, give up on her.

If Faith wanted this to be different, if she didn't want Diana to give up on her, Faith figured she'd at least have to return the favour.

Even if the woman was a nut-job.


	51. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

"So is she okay?"

"I don't know, I kind of… just left her with Red."

Xander gave her a stern look. "You dumped her on Willow?"

The Slayer sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair, "Look, Xand, I wasn't what she needed last night. I don't know how to comfort people and make 'em feel better. She just… she was almost catatonic. She barely spoke the whole way home, which pissed Spike off to no end. I didn't know what to do. Red's… good at that stuff."

"You shouldn't have just dumped her on Willow though, Faith. You could have tried to help."

"You know I would have just said something stupid and made it worse," she said flatly.

It was the morning after their latest encounter with The First, and she, Xander, and Anya were in the dining room going over what happened last night.

"This is true," Anya said, "You and Buffy have the ability to make each other crazy at the best of times. Perhaps your butting heads would not have been appreciated by a damaged Buffy."

"Uh, thanks," Faith coughed, giving the former demon a look of false gratitude.

Xander went back to the topic at hand, "And it was Spike?"

"…Yeah. It, it _was _him. None of us noticed. I think… I think that's what's got her so freaked; that she didn't realize it was The First. It… it said some pretty messed up shit."

"But you said she killed the Turok-Han," Anya continued, "Which means she is still at full slaying capacity, right."

The brunette nodded, "She iced it, yeah. But that was before it decided to really… screw with her head."

Xander looked curiously at her, "What do you mean?"

Faith hesitated for a moment, apprehensive about giving details of exactly had done down last night. It wasn't like it was Buffy's business only, but she felt she might be overstepping bounds by telling the Scoobies what happened. She felt… she felt guilty that it had happened to Buffy, and it didn't feel right just sharing the details with everyone else.

"Faith?" Xander pushed.

But Faith had a right to tell them, it had happened to her too. They all needed to know what had happened, what they were up against, and why their leader was down in a funk.

"It, uh… it was Angel too."

"Buffy didn't mention that last night."

Faith turned quickly, looking over her shoulder at Willow. The redhead entered the room and sat down next to Faith, her arm brushing Faith's slightly as she did so. This was the first time she'd seen the witch since last night; she had passed out on their bed while Willow and Buffy were still downstairs, and the redhead had woken up before her.

_Assuming she even went to sleep. We didn't get back till after midnight, and I didn't hear her come in._

Willow looked a little tired; her eyes looked grey and she had slight bags under them. But her face brightened as she sat down with the other Scoobies, ready to face the morning.

Xander brought her back to the conversation, "It… it was Angel? Like vampireAngel?"

Faith looked up at the ceiling, hoping it would have the answers, "For a little while. Most of the taunting was while it was Spike. It freaked her out. Seeing Angel was just like the icing on the cake."

_Freaked me out, too. Seeing Wilkins is one thing. Seeing Angel…_

Anya looked worried, "Will she be alright?"

Willow spoke up, "She was pretty upset last night. She…" the witch paused for a long moment, clearly unsure how to word what she wanted to say, "She was… a little without hope last night. Whatever it said to her, it really shook her up. But, well, I saw her making up with Spike."

"Making up, or _making up_ making up?"

Willow frowned, "No, Xander. They were just kind of, holding each other."

"Why were Buffy and Spike making up?" Anya asked, her face clouded with confusion. "Were they in an argument? I thought Buffy was mad at The First, not Spike."

Willow tried to explain, "It was more of a I'm-sorry-I-got-mad-at-you-because-The-First-took-your-form and No-I'm-sorry-I-got-mad-at-you-for-getting-mad-at-me kind of thing."

"Their relationship is very unusual, when-"

"That it is Ahn," Xander jumped in, cutting off whatever personal and most likely embarrassing thing she was going to say. She frowned at the carpenter by kept her mouth closed.

"Where's B now?"

"Still downstairs with Spike," Willow answered, looking at Faith. "I went to check on her this morning. She was still a little lost and mope-y. It might be better if you trained with the girls alone today, give her a, well a day off I guess."

_Me train with the girlies… alone? Me, teaching. On my own? Without B._

_Oh yeah, 'cause that'll go over well._

The Slayer did as she was asked however, rounding up the Potentials and corralling them into the backyard. They spread out along the grass, chatting to themselves while Faith mentally prepared herself.

She hadn't done any training alone with the girls. Usually Buffy would lead and she'd just follow along. Buffy was the teacher, Buffy was the experienced one and the group's leader. Faith was more of… the hot assistant teacher. She was good at giving pointers and helping the girls individually, but she had never taught the group as a whole before.

And it had only been two days since the fight down in the Hellmouth, her leg reminded her with a dull ache. She was still a little tender. The wound was fully sealed, but now she was rocking the scarring and bruising look under the bandage.

_Right. Let's just… pretend to be B. I can do that. I've done it before._

_Yeah, no. Let's not think about that. That didn't end well._

The sea of eyes were looking expectantly at her, waiting for her to begin whatever lesson she had planned for them.

"Where's Buffy?"

"Buffy's feelin' a little under the weather. It's just you and me today kiddies," she said with a forced bravado.

The seconds stretched out as Faith's mind hit a blank. What was she supposed to do with them? How was she supposed to start? Should she just pick up a weapon and say, _Okay guys, we're going to learn how to use a battle axe today._

Kennedy, who was standing near the front of the group, rolled her eyes at the Slayer's obvious hesitation. "Why don't we start with a warm-up?" She offered.

_Good plan._

"Good plan, Kenn."

Faith would never admit that a warm-up had never occurred to her. She was a little frazzled at the moment. But they didn't have to know that.

She gave a thankful smirk to Kennedy. The girl was a natural born leader. A bit of a brat, but still a leader. Faith had noticed Kennedy had become sort of the head honcho for the teens, and that she had taken the roll quite readily, enjoying being at the top of the food chain.

_If me or B kick it during this, my money's on her being Called next._

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. They weren't going to listen to her if she stayed all nervous, and she wasn't going to do a good job is she stayed all panicked and brain-missing.

Then the smile appeared. _Oh, hey. Is that what a good idea feels like?_

Suddenly Faith knew exactly what she was going to do to warm the girls up and start off the session: a breathing exercise. It was something she'd learned in prison and knew it was the right way to start off. The Potentials were green when it came to fighting, and they all seemed to have mass amounts of pent-up energy; Faith felt they could do with being centered before kicking into action.

"Alright, I know a lot of you have been training with B for a few weeks now and have had the full _Slayer experience_. I also know that some of you have only been here a few days and don't really have a clue what's going on. Now, props to Buffy, because she's great at teaching you something no matter how much experience you've had. But it's hard working with a group of kids with different experience levels. So today we're gonna start by going over the basics."

A few of the girls looked relieved, glad they weren't going to be fighting with weapons or sparing right off the bad. Most of them looked indifferent. And a few, like Kennedy, looked a little smug, no doubt thinking they had the basics in the bag.

_Too bad for them._

"I don't mean fighting basics," Faith continued, smiling sweetly at Kennedy, "I mean the basics of being a fighter."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"No Holly, it isn't. You all know the basic moves Buffy's taught you; you know how to form a punch and how to extend a kick. What I mean is the basics of being a fighter, knowing your body, understanding how you move, and trusting yourself when you think a situation's fucked. You girls have to know that you _can_ get out alive if a demon's coming after you."

"So," she said, walking to the front of the group and facing them, hands on her hips, "how many of you know how to breathe?"

A number of dull and confused faces stared back at her. Amanda meekly raised her hand.

"Yeah?"

"Buffy taught us a few breathing exercises. So did Mr. Giles."

"And?" When the younger brunette didn't answer she continued, "And, what'd they teach you."

Rona took over, "Some weird 'breathe in, hold, breathe out, hold' thing. There was counting involved."

"Anyone else. Any ideas on other ways to breathe?"

Roslin looked bored, "You do mean with our lungs, right? Like, we don't have gills. What exactly do you want us to say? Obviously we all know how to breathe."

Faith sighed internally. She wasn't good at this.

_Don't get angry with them. They're only being pissy 'cause they know you don't know what you're doing._

The brunette tried again, "There is more than one way to breathe, especially when exercising. Yes," she looked pointedly at Roslin, "We use our lungs. But breathing isn't _only_ about bringing air in and out of our lungs. It's about enriching the rest of the body.

"Breathing is one of the most basic things you can learn as a fighter. Breathing, when you know how to do it properly, can help you center yourself mentally, calm you down when you're stressed, guide you to finding your center of gravity, or mentally prepare you for something scary you have to do.

"There are lots of different ways to breathe. I'm sure there are books specifically written just on breathing. I could spend hours teaching you different exercises." She paused, emphasising her point, "But we don't have time for that. We've got a big ass group of nasties trying to destroy the world. So we're gonna look at one new way of breathing as a warm-up.

"Don't think of this as a chore," she added, making eye contact with the girls she knew would do just that, "You don't want to be here, I get it. I've been there. I have _so_ been there. But I got over it. I learned that there was a job that needed to be done, and apparently a Higher Power had Chosen me to do it. So don't think of this as somethin' I'm requiring you to do. Think of it as something that will make the rest of today – the rest of this whole fight – go easier. You learn the basics, the harder stuff comes easier. We clear?"

_God, I sound like a gym instructor. Better, I sound like B. When did this happen? Since when am I one with the motivation speeches. All I want is an easy way to start today off._

The small talk over, Faith set to work. She faced the girls head on, making sure they were all spread out on the grass, and instructed them to mirror whatever she did. The brunette took a deep breath again, centering herself, and thought about the best way to describe what she wanted them to do.

It came easily to her, she simply thought about how to do the exercise, did it with her own body, and vocalized what she was doing for the teens. She went slowly; watching to make sure everyone was in the right positions as she went through the motions.

"Breathe in. Let your body relax. Feel your weight on the heels of your feet. Bring your hands in front of you, forming a triangle with your thumbs and forefingers. Slowly raise your hands up above your head. Look through the triangle and keep your shoulders relaxed. Now, without moving your hands, gently turn your waist to the right. Keep the rest of your body still. As you turn, inhale through your nose. Don't force the breath; breathe deep, right from your stomach. Now exhale as you slowly turn back to the center. Then breathe in through your nose again as you turn to the left. Keep looking through the triangle. Focus on it and what you can see inside. Slowly keep rotating back and forth."

She broke her own pose, standing still to watch the girls. Some were a little shaky, and there were a few bored faces, but most were doing as she asked and concentrating on their movement and breathing. She started walking between the rows of staggered bodies, like she'd do when Buffy was teaching, correcting posture here and there.

"As you turn, feel your spine becoming longer. Feel your body energizing itself. This time when you turn, try to be aware of your center of gravity, notice how it follows you as you turn."

"How do we know where that is?" Estela asked.

Faith made her way over and tapped the girl's stomach, "Your belly button. No, don't look down at it, keep looking through the triangle. But be aware of your physical center. Feel it move with you as you turn. Try twisting a little deeper, focus on it and how it grounds the rest of your body.

"This is where the core of your power is," she said as she laid her hand on Kennedy stomach. The teenager smirked, cocky-like. Faith rolled her eyes but continued, "Bein' aware of your physical center when your training, sparing, or in combat is important; it's your balance. When you're training, you learn how to shift your weight when you perform different offensive moves, and you learn how you shift your weight differently when you perform defensive moves."

The Slayer continued to weave through the girls, feeling a little mystified at how well they were following her instructions. Since when was she wisdom imparting? Since when did she know how to teach? She was just making it up as she went.

Yet it seemed to be working. The girls were smiling and listening to what she was saying. They were going to get something out of this.

And even though she was making it up as she went, it was all real. She'd learned all this. She hadn't had a chance to learn it when she'd been Called, she'd learned it years later, when it was a lot harder to incorporate simple things into the way she fought. Giving this to the girls right off the bat was important.

"Feel your mind clearing as you breathe through the motions. Can you feel your whole body settling into the natural rhythm?"

A few girls nodded. "Being naturally aware of your center of gravity allows you to know how far you can push your body. It helps you keep your feet under you, and helps you know how to move to correct yourself if you lose your footing."

Damn she'd grown up since the early days. _Look at me, being all wise-sensei and shit. _She realized she really had matured in prison.

"Keep breathing as you rotate your waist. Try twisting further this time; see how far you can trust your body to go without moving your feet. This exercise helps you know your limits."

One of the girls next to where she was standing snorted at her, "Know your limits? Is this a Drink Responsibly campaign?"

The Slayer whirled; her whole body twisted as her hand shot out towards the arrogant Potential. She purposely stopped short, halting less than an inch before the heel of her hand impacted the girl's stomach.

The girl, Jehora, recoiled back anyway, expecting a blow. Her arms wind-milled as she tried to regain her balance but it didn't work; she fell backward, landing painfully on her backside.

Faith's expression was serious as she looked down at the girl for a moment before offering a hand to pull her up. Jehora hesitated slightly before grasping it and allowing Faith to pull her to her feet. She was frowning deeply and turning red.

Keeping her eyes on the girl in front of her Faith addressed the whole group, "What was the point of this lesson?"

"Breathin'," Rona answered.

"Finding your center of gravity," Kennedy continued. Faith was grateful at least one of them had been listening.

"And what was Jehora not aware of just now? Her center of gravity. I didn't touch you," her trademark smirk broke through the 'tough teacher' look. "Your mind flinched, expecting me to hit you, and your body flinched with you. If you had been aware of your physical center, you would have able to correct it. As your center shifted back, pushing you off balance, you would have naturally extended a leg backward to brace yourself and keep you from falling the moment you realized I wasn't going to hurt you."

She was trying not to be too harsh with the girl. It was a lesson, not a punishment. She was simply making an example of the teen's mistake and her careless attitude.

_Dear God I'm totally acting like B. What is going on with me?_

She turned away from the embarrassed and red-faced girl, addressing her troops, "I'm not B. I don't have the experience she has. I'm not going to lie to you; most of my time as a Slayer was spent in a coma and in prison. But I'm just as interested in keeping you all _alive_ through all this as she is," she stressed the word, wanting to make her point clear with the Potentials. "B's the hard-ass, but I can be just as mean. Worse. Don't think that because I'm the one teachin' today that you get off easy. Me and B have different styles for fighting, yeah, but everything we tell you is important. A lot of it is stuff we've had to learn the hard way; and by the hard way I mean by almost dying. _Actually_ dying in her case," Faith laughed, making her way back to her original spot at the front of the group.

"Be grateful we can teach this to you _before_ you have to go up against something strong enough to eat all of Rhode Island for lunch. We've both gotten people killed because we didn't know how to fight. Yeah, some of it you have to learn the hard way. But trust me, havin' someone around who's willing to teach you everything they know? You don't turn it down."

_Not like I did. Not like I did when B and Giles tried to help me and I turned them down. Look what happened._

_I'm not going to let them turn into who I was._

_I'm going to get them through this._


	52. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

They were in the hallway in front of the upstairs bathroom, and Faith was giving her the puppy-dog look.

_Faith_ was giving her _puppy-dog eyes_. As in, the bad-ass girl from Boston who did not under any circumstances pout, and most definitely did not use the puppy-eye look to get what she wanted. Yet here she was, using them on Willow.

_She_ was the one who gave those sad, un-ignorable eyes. Not the other way around. Who did Faith think she was?

"Faith," she groaned. Now she understood what it was like for other people when she used her Resolve Face on them.

"Red, please."

"I told you, we're good. _I'm _good," she stressed.

"You're not mad though?" Faith was not using the look to get something she wanted; she was using it to get back in the redhead's good graces. Not that she'd ever left in the first place.

"No, I told you, I'm not mad at you."

The Slayer squirmed and looked away, roughly shoving her hands in her pockets, "You looked pissed last night."

"Because I was a little confused as to _why_ you were dumping a bleeding Buffy on me and then leaving without telling me what happened."

"I-"

"I get it, Faith," she cut the brunette off. "I understand." She laid a gentle hand on Faith's arm. "You were freaked out yourself, and didn't want to be around a freaked out Buffy. Those two things make for explosions and punches. Don't worry."

Faith was still wearing a guilty face. And it looked adorable on her. Not that Willow would ever tell. The guilty looks she liked reserved for her alone, let everyone else deal with her badass looks. Not that Willow really minded those either.

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Eventually, yeah," the witch answered. "You were dead to the world when I came in. So were the girls in there with you. None of you heard when I almost knocked the lamp off the table. It was really bad, I tripped over the end of one of the sleeping bags and the table was there so I grabbed it so I wouldn't fall but then the lamp almost-"

"Red." Faith cut-off, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry. Anyway, I promise," she said, squeezing the arm on the other girl's upper-arm, "We're okay."

Faith smiled, still unaware of how adorable she was looking to Willow, all concerned and considerate. Not that Faith wasn't considerate. It was just so much cuter when she was afraid Willow was going to be mad at her. It didn't fit with the usual mental image that came with Faith, but it was cute nonetheless.

_Too bad no one else gets to see how cute she can look. No one would believe me._

_Scratch that,_ she thought as Faith's lips connected with hers,_ I want her all to myself._

The redhead let herself get lost in the kiss for a moment, enjoying the feel of her lips against the Slayer's. Faith was a good kisser, why hadn't she thought to do this sooner? Kissing Faith-lips years ago would probably have solved a lot of the bad blood between her and the Scoobies.

When Faith's hands slid down her back to her waist to pull the witch closer Willow pulled back hastily. "Faith," she breathed out, "Someone could see us."

Faith growled, but pulled away, reluctantly putting distance between their bodies. "I'd make sure we didn't get caught."

"Oh, like you did yesterday afternoon, when Buffy and your sister almost walked in on us making out?"

Faith smirked, "Hey, we didn't get caught, did we?"

Willow slapped her lightly on the arm, "We almost did! How do you think Buffy would have reacted if she'd walked in on that?"

Faith seemed to ponder this a moment, "We could probably teach her a thing or-"

"Faith!" Willow squealed.

"Hey, just being honest. Though, she's had her deal with Spike. I bet he loosened her up a bit. Got rid of that stick she had wedged up her ass."

Willow gave her a disapproving look.

"Come on, B was pretty stuffy. Still is."

"_You_ may get away with insulting her, but _I _don't. She's my friend."

"And you didn't disagree with me," Faith smiled wickedly. "You agree with me."

"I didn't-"

"Willow?" Giles voice rang through the house.

_Oh, right._ "Coming," Willow replied. Giles had called her and Faith downstairs over five minutes ago. They had been on their way down, but Willow had gotten distracted by Faith's puppy-dog eyes. "Come on." She tugged Faith forward towards the staircase.

The Slayer had been outside working with the girls for most of the day, only stopping to let them have a quick lunch. Willow had no idea what they were doing out there in the backyard, but none of the girls seemed to be complaining. It was almost dinner-time now, and Faith had opted to let them have a break and cool off after working out for so long.

"Mmm, I smell food." Faith said as they entered the kitchen.

"That's right," Andrew said, turning away from the stove. "We're having… well, and assortment of food. Some kind of stale looking pasta that I'm hoping will perk up, a stew with all the vegetables I found in the house before they go bad, and a frozen pizza I discovered hiding in the freezer downstairs."

Willow tried very hard to be polite and not laugh at the blonde man; he was standing in a white apron and a chef's hat – where did he even find that? Willow was pretty sure that she, Dawn, nor Buffy owned a chef's hat.

"So long as it's enough to feed an army Andy," Faith said, "We're good."

"Ah, Willow," Giles said, entering the kitchen, "There you are."

"What's up?"

"Well, I – do you know why the phone was disconnected?"

Willow blinked at the unexpected question. "Um, no, I-"

"Oh, sorry, that was me," Andrew said from the stove.

Giles looked over him, frowning. "Why…? Never mind, Andrew, I don't want to know."

"Why'd you need the phone, G-man?"

"A contact in England was trying to get a hold of me. He said we have another Potential coming into town, a girl from Vancouver."

Faith nodded, "Godda dig the Canadian chicks."

"When's she getting here?" Willow asked.

"Sometime this evening. She is supposed to be taking a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles, but will get off early at meet one of us downtown."

Willow sighed internally. Another person to add to the count. Just how many Potentials were there around the world? She thought Giles had said there was only a handful left. This was getting to be quite a big handful. Obviously it was better if they were here if it was the safest place for them, but at the same time, it was getting a little… cramped.

"After the attack again last night we know the Bringers are still watching us and looking for an opening. Faith, I was wondering if you could-"

"Wondering if she could what?" Buffy's chipper voice asked.

Willow turned, watching as her friend closed the basement door behind her. She looked… well rested. And she had a determined but pleasant look on her face, the one that said she was down with whatever the world threw at her because she was a superhero.

"Ah, Buffy," Giles said, "Are you…?"

Buffy raised her eyebrows, waiting.

Giles seemed a little unsure how to finish without insulting her, so Faith offered, "You outta your funk yet?"

The blonde girl rolled her eyes, "Yes, Faith. General Buffy is back and ready for business."

"Are you sure?" Giles asked, ever the concerned Watcher, "If you need more time alone-"

"I'm good, Giles," Buffy said sincerely. "I just… lost it a bit last night. It was," she waved her arms slightly around her face, "all over the place. But I'm good. I'm done wallowing and ready to kick some non-corporeal ass."

Willow was glad. Willow was very, very glad. She always got worried when Buffy lost her stride right before a big battle. The world was so hard on the blonde; she was forced to be the leader. And it was hard trying to be the supportive Scooby when you were just as lost as Buffy was.

She knew Buffy wasn't one hundred percent back to her old self, that she wouldn't be until this battle was over and the weight was lifted from her shoulders, but she was at least feeling better enough to put on a show and fall back into the leadership role.

"So," Buffy continued, looking at the Englishman, "You were wondering if Faith could what?"

"We have another girl arriving in town. I was wondering if Faith could… well, if she could go and…"

"Pick her up?" Faith in a sultry voice, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"Faith!" Willow squealed, elbowing her in the side.

"God, Faith, gross. They're kids," Buffy scoffed. "Enough with the dirty comments."

"B, it's me. That ain't possible."

"Clearly," Buffy muttered.

"G-man, if B's feeling all back to superbitch mode, you want her to go?"

"I-" Giles started.

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" Buffy asked, amused, "Back in _superbitch_ mode?"

Faith shrugged non-committedly, "Sure."

Willow watched her friend roll her eyes dramatically. "Giles, I can head down and the get the new girl when she arrives. I'll take a few of ours; do a quick sweep on the way there. We can scare off whatever The First has out prowling tonight."

"Buffy, you're sure?"

The blonde tensed a moment, "Yes. I'm fine. Really. I'm not going to break."

Giles looked like he wanted to say more, but instead nodded and left the room.

"Fine by me," Faith said as she leaned back on the bar counter, "Night off sounds good after today."

"Why, what did you do today?"

Willow spoke up, "Faith was training with the Potentials all day while you were… getting better."

"You. Teaching. All day," Buffy asked, looking at the brunette. She had a sceptic looking smirk on her face.

Faith smiled, "Piece of cake. Just gave 'em all a bunch of caffeine and left them in the backyard for the afternoon, telling them to get me when they were all punched-out. Seemed fine to me, only a few bloody noses and broken bones."

Buffy didn't look amused.

"Chill, B. I handled it, okay? Just… taught them some breathing and shit and then let them work more with the knives and stakes. Did a bit of sparing. All good. I can be responsible."

Willow's hand flew to cover her mouth, but it didn't hide the giggle that escaped.

"Oh, thanks Red. Glad I've got your vote," it was meant to sound mean, but Faith was smiling with her eyes.

"So," Buffy said, turning away from Willow and Faith, "Andrew. Whatcha got cooking?"

"Ah, ma cherie, I'm glad you asked…"

* * *

Willow always seemed to be in the room when it happened. It was becoming a pattern now, and it always seemed to freak Willow out during the first few seconds before her brain kicked in.

Everything had been fine only moments before. She was sitting on the couch next to Xander, Faith was in the armchair and Andrew was pacing in front of them.

Xander sighed heavily, "I'm just saying, I don't really think it's appropriate for right now."

"Well you're no fun."

"Andrew, right now isn't the time for this."

"You just know I'll beat you."

"I didn't say that."

"You may as well have," Andrew whined and turned as Giles entered the family room. "Mr. Giles, Xander isn't being fair."

"I'd like you to define fair," Willow heard the older man mumble under his breath. He sighed and spoke louder, "What is it Andrew."

"I think we should organize a fantasy role playing game! Morale's been low lately; why not get spirits up with a game? I suggest Dungeons & Dragons; everyone is assigned a character and-"

"It's a nerd game," Faith mumbled, reclining on the chair. She was sitting sideways, legs draped over one side, watching the interaction between Andrew and Xander. The younger man was clutching a box – presumably containing the game – close to his chest as he argued with the Scooby. Willow sat silently and watched.

Andrew glared at the Slayer, "Well _you_ don't have to play. I just think it would be a good idea. You guys never let the girls do anything fun."

"Today was fun," Kennedy piped up from where she and Amanda were lying on the floor. "We got to throw knives."

"You have a sick and twisted version of fun, Kennedy," Xander said dryly.

"I think Dungeons & Dragons sounds like fun."

Willow suppressed a laugh as Faith rolled her eyes; Amanda was most definitely on level playing-grounds of nerdiness with Andrew.

"Andrew," Xander tried again, "Not now, okay? We're trying to win a war."

"Exactly," the blonde went on, "And this is a strategic, warfare emulating game. What better way to practice our attacks on The First than by-"

"Andrew," Giles tried again, "I have to agree with Xander. Now isn't the time for-"

Willow stopped listening. She didn't mind either way. Andrew had a good point, it would allow the girls to relax, but Xander was right too when he said now probably wasn't the time for this. Buffy was out picking up the new girl, which was probably why Andrew was bringing it up now, when the blonde wasn't home to shut him down immediately. Apparently he felt going to Xander would have been a good thing.

Willow let her eyes flicker to Faith, where the girl was lazily tossing a wooden stake in the air. It appeared Faith too was hardly paying attention, only pausing to throw out insults to Andrew every so often.

They really needed to find a way to defeat The First. Living in the same house with the same people day in and day out was starting to wear everyone down. The Potentials were fighting more; Buffy, although claiming to be fine, was clearly not alright; Giles was getting snappy, Anya was getting whiny.

And Willow really just wanted to kiss Faith.

_Damn it. This is getting ridiculous. I'm acting like a teenager. What is wrong with me?_

Willow focused back on what was happening around her when Dawn and Dani entered the room, clasped hands swinging between them, each holding a drink in their free hand. Willow was really proud of Dawn; the girl had basically taken the role as Dani's personal Watcher. She'd befriended the girl, entertained her, and kept an eye on her when Faith was busy training with the other teens.

And Dani clearly liked having a friend. Willow wondered if Dani had ever had any actual _friends_ at Stone Manor, or if she only had associations and interactions with the other patients.

"-about Monopoly?" Andrew asked. Clearly the topic had moved from Andrew's specific game idea to simply suggesting random board games.

"We don't have that," Willow said lightly. "Amy got out of her cage once and ate most of the little pieces."

"Who's Amy?" Amanda asked, eyes raised.

"She was… our rat," the witch answered, deciding not to bother with details.

"Okay," Andrew went on, "What about… The Game of Life?"

"Lame," Kennedy replied immediately.

"Anya loves that," Xander smiled.

"Operation!" Dani squealed excitedly.

Willow saw Faith smile and roll her eyes, clearly she was aware of her sister's love for this game.

"I suck at that," Dawn said, dropping to sit down next to Amanda and Kennedy. "Buffy threatened to burn it the last time we played because I kept setting the buzzer off… I think I was like, nine."

Giles muttered something about silly American games and wanting a cup of tea as he left the room. Willow felt bad; the poor guy was clearly out of his element with the generation gap between him and the Scoobies and Potentials.

It was because her eyes were watching Giles as he left the room that Willow saw it. Dani was still standing, excitedly explaining to Dawn how Operation was her favourite game to play at Stone Manor. Then Kennedy cut her off, complaining about how everyone in the room was lame and her idea of fun involved being out of the house and causing some sort of trouble in town and not playing a board game. Faith immediately agreed with her.

Dani's face went slack. At first Willow assumed it was because the other girl had cut her off and dismissed her idea so quickly. But Willow watched as Dani stood perfectly still for a moment, staring blankly ahead of her.

_Oh no_. The witch opened her mouth to speak but couldn't get the words out fast enough.

Dani's grip on the glass she was holding loosened and it fell to the floor, shattering to pieces. Time seemed to slow as everyone looked over, wondering what happened.

Faith practically flew from the chair, "Dan?"

"No." Dani's voice was gentle, staring straight ahead at something only she could see.

"Dani," Faith tried again, "What do you see."

The younger Lehane's lips twitched, pulling into a deep frown. "No… no, that's not…" She stepped forewards, not fully absorbed within the vision yet. "No, that isn't right. You… he can't… no."

"Faith," Willow hissed, standing up and moving next to the Slayer, "the glass." Dani's bear feet were stepping on the shards of broken glass.

"Dani," Faith's voice was firm, "Dan, don't move, you're gonna hurt your-"


	53. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

"Dani," Faith's voice was firm, "Dan, don't move, you're gonna hurt your-"

Dani screamed, a loud, piercing cry that filled the Summer's house, startling everyone in the room further and causing a few heads to peek around the doorway.

"Whoa, whoa, Dani, calm down," Faith insisted, grasping her sister by her forearms and leading her away from the broken glass. "Dan, what do you see? What's going on?"

"No, no, no, no, no," the younger girl chanted, trying to pull away from Faith. She tugged relentlessly but the Slayer's grip was stronger. "No, no," she continued, becoming more pulled into the vision and more weakly focused on pulling away from her sister.

"Dani," Faith said sharply, shaking her sister slightly to get her attention. Dani's eyes were unfocused and wide with fright, but she stopped chanting, reacting to Faith's voice. "Dani, what do you see?"

"Not right. That's not right," her voice sounded hollow and far away. "That's not how it's supposed to-"

"What isn't right, Dani?" Willow asked softly.

"There isn't… too much orange…"

Faith's mind was already running through the internal dictionary of word associations Dani made; colours and symbols representing more complex things for her when she was experiencing a prophetic vision. Orange usually meant-

"What's on fire, Dani?" Faith pressed.

The younger Lehane shook her head, "There's so much. I… I don't know where… There's buildings…"

"What's the place look like," Xander asked, his face reflecting how concerned he and everyone else in the room were.

Dani looked to one side and then the other, still looking past everyone in the Summers' room and into her vision. "Big cars…"

"Like a junk yard?" Kennedy offered happily.

Dani either didn't hear or didn't understand, "Long. Big, long cars. Fire. Not supposed to be…"

Faith's eyes narrowed, trying to grasp what her sister was describing. Big, long cars? Did Dani actually mean cars, or did they only look like cars to her? She decided to focus on the other main detail. "The fire," she asked, watching her sister carefully, "Is it hurting anyone? Is someone in danger?"

"It was a lie. Not right. Make his nose grow longer! He's lying!" Then Dani turned, looking directly at Faith, "She's in danger. They all are. Surprise fire. A lie."

Faith may have never finished high school, but she was far from unintelligent. When it came to any and all things relating to Dani, Faith understood. And right now, the reason for Dani's attack was becoming clear as the words 'long cars' and 'surprise fire' fell into place inside Faith's mind.

_Oh,_ Faith thought slowly, full comprehension dawning on her. _Shit._

She hastily pulled away from Dani, hearing the broken glass crunch under her boots. "Xander. Keys. Now," she ordered, pushing her sister towards Willow.

"What?" the carpenter replied, confusion written on his face. "Why? What's going on?"

Faith was already at the front door, "Buffy's in danger. The bus station, Caleb's gonna torch it. Giles' contact was fake."

The Slayer stood impatiently, watching as everyone tried to jump to the conclusion she had already made. "Xander!" she barked, "You want Blondie to die? Get off your ass and _move._"

That sent him moving. Faith didn't bother to listen to the questions bubbling up from everyone else in the room. She sent Willow a meaningful look, her eyes flickering to Dani for a second, and then roughly pulled open the front door with Xander hot on her heels.

The pair whipped out of the Summers' driveway in record time. "You sure?" Xander asked as he urged the car to get them to the bus station as fast as possible. "You're sure this is a trap for Buffy?"

Faith nodded, glaring out the window. The only thing running through her head was, _faster, faster, faster._

"Faith?"

"Yes," the Slayer snapped.

"You, uh, you okay?"

Faith took a slow and deep breath before replying, "Just getting tired to saving B's ass. This is two nights in a row. It's getting old." _What the hell is the point of an Apocalypse if we keep having mini-crises that are fucking _distracting_ us from the damn Apocalypse?_

"And we're sure? I mean, if Giles got the news about the new girl from a contact of his, how can it be a trap?"

"The First can be any dead person it wants, right?" _Meaning the G-man's man's probably lying dead somewhere._

_I really just want to rip The First a new one. Stupid bastard._

"Ah," was all Xander said.

Faith wasn't sure how long it would normally take the Scooby to get to the Sunnydale bus station, but she was fairly certain that Xander had managed to cut the time in half. That was the one good thing about the town being nearly deserted and it being close to midnight; you didn't have to stop for red lights.

As Xander rounded the last corner and they entered the back parking lot Faith shouldered her door open, not bothering to wait for him to stop the car. The Slayer was on her feet and running seconds later, ignoring Xander's calls behind her.

Her Slayer senses reached out, trying to locate Buffy as fast as possible. She felt the familiar tug inside her and ran in the direction the pull seemed to be coming from.

The back of the parking lot was deserted, but as she drew closer to the bus station building the parking spaces became occupied with dark, abandoned buses. They loomed over her, blocking her vision and hiding her, and who she was looking for, in shadows.

Faith's step faltered only once as she made her way through the maze of buses, seeking out her blonde counterpart. A flood of memories rose inside her mind, reminding her of the all the times she'd been in a bus station. Not just the Sunnydale station, but the number of them she'd stayed at during her trek from Boston to Sunnydale. Reminding her of the miserable and lonely life she'd led only a few short years ago.

The Slayer shoved the memories down and continued running. There were more important matters.

* * *

"Damn it, I could use a cigarette."

Buffy's eye roll was visible in the moonlight as the group made their way up the walkway to the Summers' home. "You are such a bad influence on them, you know?" She nodded to the Potentials entering the house ahead of them.

"Hey, I saved your ass, didn't I?"

"Please, I was totally handling it by the time you showed up."

"Uh huh," Faith deadpanned. "And you standing next to one of the buses as it exploded, was that part of your plan, oh wise leader?"

"Ladies," Xander said, stepping between them and placing an arm across each of their shoulders as the stepped into the house, "Let's keep the arguing outside, okay?"

"I didn't need saving," Buffy grumbled tersely. "And neither did the girls."

"That make-shift bandage clearly implies the opposite, pyro girl. Didn't I hear somewhere you've blown up more than your fair share of schools before? Adding bus stations to that list now?"

"Shut up, Faith. And I didn't blow it up. There were demons. We fought them. And it blew up."

"I take it you're all alright?" Giles asked, bringing Faith and Buffy's attention towards the dining room.

"Just a nifty little trap to try and get Blondie alone and blow her head off."

"Shut up, Faith."

"But Buffy clearly still has her head, so that must be a good sign," Anya said good-naturedly from her seat at the table. While some of the Potentials were still up and chatting together in the other room, the core Scoobies had stayed up to wait for their return; Anya, Giles, Willow, and Spike leaning against the far wall, partially hidden by shadows.

Xander dropped heavily into the seat next to Anya, "A very good sign. A painful one, in which I will request Willow go get the first aid kit, but we're good."

The redhead stood up and made to leave the room, but Faith grabbed her arm lightly as she passed. "Is-?"

Willow smiled reassuringly, "She's fine. She's sleeping in Dawnie's room."

"She didn't-?"

"She calmed down after you left. Don't worry." The witch slipped free of Faith's grasp and left the room, reappearing a moment later with the first aid kit.

The ex-demon snatched the box away from Willow, immediately beginning to clean and wrap up Xander's ripped open knuckles.

Faith smirked. Clearly these two were working on their issues.

"So what happened exactly?" Giles asked, speaking over Anya's instructions for Xander to hold still.

"Your contact was a bust," Buffy said, shrugging off her jacked and removing the bloodied and ripped piece of cloth on her upper arm. She winced as she continued, "Caleb was there, but he didn't stick around. He just gave us his usual speech about how we're lower beings and it's pointless to fight and all that. Then he mysteriously vanished when the demons showed up. And – ow!"

Spike rolled his eyes and moved forward. "Here. Let me do it," he said gruffly, taking the fresh bandage from the blonde's hands and re-applying it to her arm.

"And?" Willow pressed.

"And Xand and I showed up just as the party started. Plenty of demons to go around. And Buffy may have trashed a few of the buses. And set the place on fire. But we dealt with it."

"Good lord," Giles sighed "And the Potentials?"

"Right as rain," Faith replied. "B, Xand and I took most of the damage."

"You don't look injured."

Faith smiled at the Englishman, "I'm spry."

The brunette was fairly certain that she did, in fact, have a lovely bruise the size of Texas on her back and her head was still spinning from where she'd been thrown into a wall. And her leg had flared up again, though the wound remained sealed. It was healing well due to her Slayer powers, but it was still going to hurt like a bitch in the morning. But besides a few scratches she wasn't bleeding. So she was good.

"Next time, though," she said, looking at Buffy, "When you decided to have a smack-down in the middle of a bus station, don' take the newbie girls. Okay? Next time take the girls that can actually, you know, fight back appropriately. Because, as much as I'd love to see them all alive, there are only so many times I'm willing to be thrown around like a ragdoll to protect them."

"You're just jealous I killed one of the elephant Pumba demon things."

"Oh yeah. I'm so jealous you nearly got your arm ripped off."

"I will never understand these two," Giles mumbled, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"I think it's a Slayer thing," Willow offered. "They don't act like this with anyone else."

"Although watching these two bicker can be entertaining, it is late. And I want to sleep. And not see their grumpy faces until morning," Anya stated.

Faith rolled her eyes, "Watch it, demon girl."

"Ex-demon," the blonde corrected.

"Whatever, watch it."

"Or else what?"

Willow jumped in, "And I really don't think we need to know the answer to that. Come on, Faith, let's go check up on your sister." The witch jumped up and all but dragged Faith from the room.

"She's annoying as hell," Faith muttered once they started climbing the stairs.

"I'm sure she'd probably say the same about you," Willow said lightly, bumping shoulders with Faith. When they reached the top of the stairs Willow turned and leaned against the wall, pulling Faith with her. "Are you sure you're okay? You didn't get hurt back there?" Her eyes showed how concerned she was.

It threw Faith for a moment, remembering there was someone besides Dani who cared for her wellbeing. "Fine. A little banged up. But I'm good." She looked down at the redhead, smirking slightly and not breaking eye contact.

"That's good," Willow whispered, fingers grazing up and down Faith's arm.

"And what are _you two_ doing? Hiding in the shadows and acting all cuddly?"

Faith watched Willow's ears redden as she turned to look at the source of the voice. Dawn.

The Slayer fought the urge to hastily pull herself away from Willow, instead slowly taking a step back, trying not to look as guilty. "What up, little D?"

"You guys made it back okay? You and Buffy, and the others?"

"Peachy. How's Dan?"

"Sleeping. I was just getting ready for bed too," she nodded towards the bathroom, from where she'd just left. "She wanted to wait up for you, but I told her we didn't know how long you'd be."

Faith nodded, giving a quick smile as her thanks.

"You know," the younger Summers began nonchalantly, "Kenn and Carmen are downstairs with some of the others watching Jaws. They seem to have this thing where they watch scary monster movies into the early hours of the morning. They watched Jurassic Park last night. I think a few were up past two."

"Which would explain why some of them were dead tired today," Faith mumbled to herself.

"And," Dawn continued, "Caridad and Dominique are still in my room. I don't know if I can get them to stay there _all_ night, but I can hold them off for a few hours." She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Faith quirked an eyebrow in return. _Excuse me?_

"Dawn," she said carefully.

"Have fun," the girl finished happily and turned on her heels to make her way back to her room.

Willow turned beat red and squeaked, burying her head into Faith's neck. "Oh Goddess," she mumbled, clearly embarrassed. "Did she just…?"

"I think she did."

_Damn. When the hell did that girl grow up?_

"She is," Faith continued, "just going to magically keep everyone out of your room for some of the night? She's arranging to give us some privacy? Is she pimping us?"

"I think Dawn clearly supports…" Willow's unfinished sentence hung in the air, her head resting against Faith's shoulder.

"Supports?" Faith prompted.

The witch lightly grasped Faith's hand and led her into her bedroom. Once the door was closed and they were alone she elaborated, "Supports us. Whatever this is."

"And… what is this, exactly. I thought we weren't going to do this," Faith said carefully. "We weren't going to think about what it is we're doing."

"We need to talk about it. At least a little, Faith. I mean, we can't just keep flirting and kissing and hiding in the shadows but have no idea what dance we're doing."

Faith sat down on the bed, watching as Willow paced the floor. She stayed quiet, letting the redhead talk.

"I mean, we have feelings for each other. We've both acknowledged it. This isn't… this isn't just me…?" She looked at Faith pleadingly.

The Slayer shook her head. "No… it isn't just you."

"And I mean, I get that you're scared."

"Not scared," Faith cut in. Willow raised her eyebrows, challenging her. "Red, it's more just… I have no idea what is going on. I've never… I've never done this before. I've dated, but there's never been… it's always just been about the sex."

"There's never been any emotional side," the redhead offered.

Faith nodded.

"Whereas for me, it's always been the emotional side first. The physical side came after, once all the feelings were already there."

The brunette ran a shaky hand through her hair. "Whatever this is, it is a bad idea."

"Why?" Willow suddenly bit back.

Faith was caught off guard, not expecting the reaction. "Red-"

Willow shook her head as she continued her pacing, "Why is it a bad idea? It's bad that I enjoy kissing you and I feel comfortable and safe around you?" Her cheeks tinged pink at the admission, but she pressed on, "Why is it a bad thing that I'm letting myself feel these feelings that I haven't since…"

"That's exactly why."

"What?" Willow stopped pacing and turned to look directly at her.

"The…" Faith started hesitantly. She wasn't really sure how to address the topic; she knew it was still a touchy thing for the redhead. "The last time you did this, got close to someone…"

"What, you're planning on dying now?" Willow snapped.

"No, no I," the Slayer shook her head, "I meant, the last time you did this, you got hurt. Yeah, she… she died. But you still got hurt. And with wolf-boy? You got hurt. I don't want to do that to you. And I'm _the_ most likely person to do that to you. I'll hurt you."

Willow narrowed her eyes, "Because you're Faith?"

"And you're Willow," she sighed.

The witch shook her head, "I'm not that Willow anymore. I'm just as capable of hurting you as you are of me." The anger receded as quickly as it had flared up, leaving Willow standing quietly in the middle of the room.

Faith took a deep breath, knowing she was about to jump off a cliff with her next words. But she let them tumble out instead of trying to organize them. She wanted Willow to understand, and it was better if the words came out as honest as possible. "Look, Red. You know this. You know what you're doing. I don't. I haven't done this. Not the way you have. I push emotions away. I hurt the people I'm close with. I don't let myself get attached to people."

"And with me?"

"With you it's so different it freaks me out."

"So why are you holding back."

"What?"

Willow sighed. She walked over to Faith and picked up the Slayer's hands, "You said it yourself. For you, it's sex. So why are you acting different with me? If it was anyone else, and it wasn't the end of the world, wouldn't you have jumped into bed with them by now?"

Faith knew that comment wasn't supposed to be rude, Willow was just stating fact, but it still stung. Yes, if it were anyone else, there would be no waiting involved. But Willow was different. Faith didn't want to do that to her, let them have their moment and then go their separate ways. For some reason, and Faith still wasn't sure what the reason was – she didn't _want_ to know what the reason was, it made her nervous even thinking about it – she wanted it to be different with Willow. Another person would understand that it was _just sex._ But Willow… Willow didn't work like that.

Faith sat still, fighting the urge to remove her hands from the witch's grasp and run a hand through her hair. "Because I don't want to hurt you. I still can't even understand how you want to be having this conversation with me. Me, having feelings for you? I can manage. I think. I mean, I'm still… I'm still getting used to that one."

She pressed on, "But you having feelings for me? Throwin' me for a loop here. I'm not someone people have feelings for. Not _those_ kind of feelings."

She could see a string of emotions running across the redhead's face, but they were too fast for her to decipher. The other girl's head was whirling, she could see. It was frustrating, not knowing what Willow was thinking. Because Willow was clearly thinking something.

After a long moment, the redhead tugged on Faith's hands, pulling her into a standing position. Then she squeezed Faith's hands, looking into the brunette's eyes with a soft smile. "You're adorable when you try to be all valiant. But I trust you; you aren't going to hurt me. And despite what your insecurities tell you, I do have those kinds of feelings for you."

"Are you sure you want this?" Faith asked, because she had to be sure.

"I want this, Faith. This is all I want right now."


	54. Chapter 44

**A/N**: Oh hey there M rating. It is about time you made an appearance.

**Chapter 44**

The kiss started off slowly, laced with passion and slow want. Faith's lips pressed against hers softly at first, her hand caressing Willow waist as she applied more and more pressure. Her lips moved in time with the Slayer's, never wanting the contact to end. The witch's own hands gripped Faiths forearms tight, squeezing their encouragement.

Willow sucked the Slayer's bottom lip into her mouth, pulling and massaging it with her lips and teeth. Faith didn't waste any time, opening her mouth wider and inviting Willow's tongue inside. The redhead complied readily.

The kiss was dizzying, Faith's lips, tongue, and teeth managing to convey the passion she was feeling. Willow did her best to return the feelings, moving stride for stride with the Slayer.

Her body felt on fire as the hand that was tangled in her hair moved down to the back of her neck, pulling her deeper into the kiss. The hand on her side was moving in small circles up and down her ribs, leaving a burning path in its wake.

She couldn't breathe, but from the passion flowing between them or from the lack of oxygen Willow didn't know or care. She was very content where she was at the moment, her tongue dancing with Faith's.

Faith groaned as Willow's own hands slipped beneath her shirt, pressing flat against the brunette's toned stomach. Willow's head was spinning, giddy over the fact that she was the one causing Faith to make those noises. She was the one making Faith feel like this.

The kiss became hungrier as Faith walked them backwards, pressing Willow's back into the hard surface of the bedroom door. The Slayer's lips moved away, kissing a path down Willow's throat to where her neck met her shoulder. Feeling Faith's tongue and teeth playing with her skin made the redhead see stars.

Her hands continued to move along Faith's stomach, running up along her ribs until they met the underside of Faith's bra. Willow smiled to herself as she moved them higher still, cupping Faith's breasts through the material. The Slayer stopped her ministrations and hissed at the contact, clearly enjoying it.

This only proceeded to egg Willow on further. "Shirt," she whispered.

She was met with a surprise when her own shirt was pulled up and over her head.

"I meant yours."

Faith smiled, "I know."

Willow felt herself flushing as Faith's eyes dropped down, appraising her body. Her eyes were dark pools of want as she took in Willow's topless form, her milky skin itching to be touched.

Faith didn't need an invitation, her head lowered, bringing her lips back into contact with the redhead's skin. Starting at the dip in the base of her throat Faith kissed her way along Willow's shoulder and then back up to her ear. The witch felt her whole body shiver as Faith began sucking on her earlobe, her body jumping at the sensation.

"I could never get tired of watching you do that," Faith husked, her lips never leaving skin.

Willow couldn't formulate a reply; she was too forgone with bliss. Her fingers cupped Faith again, kneading her breasts through the material of her bra. Faith's body ground into hers, arching into the contact. Willow had her shirt off moments later, fed up with it blocking her view of the other girl.

While her fingers continued their massages, running up and down Faith's whole torso, Faith's own finger snacked back, undoing Willow's bra. It dropped to the floor and Willow shivered again, cool air brushing over her unclothed skin.

"God, you're beautiful," Faith breathed out as her lips crashed to meet Willow's again. The redhead moaned into the kiss as Faith's hands met her naked skin, rubbing her the way she had done to the other girl through her bra. Her hands cupped Willow fully, teasing her skin. The flats of her palms rubbed against taught nipples, her fingers bearing down and digging into the flesh around.

Every place Faith was in contact with Willow quivered with passion and desire.

The Slayer's lips pulled away from where they had been attached to Willow's neck and moved further down. The witch's already laboured breathing increased further, a gasp breaking free the moment Faith's lips connected with one of her breasts.

Everything about Faith was heaven. Willow could only hold on as Faith's tongue took over what one of her hands had been doing. She kissed along Willow's pale skin, tongue flat and dragging across Willow's nipple before swirling around it and bringing it into her mouth. Willow gasped again, sagging back against the door behind her as pleasure swam through her.

Faith's teeth encircled the hardened nub, bringing just enough pain into the mix before using her tongue to sooth the sensitive skin once more. She then kissed her way across; dipping down in between Willow's breasts before resuming her attack on Willow's other side.

"God, Faith," she breathed out. Her body was growing hot. Faith's tongue encircled her other nipple, giving it the same treatment the other had received.

Once the Slayer was content with her work she kissed her way back up to Willow's parted lips, threading her tongue inside once more. Willow kissed back with all the passion she could muster, wanting Faith to understand all that she was feeling. Her hands moved from where they had been moving through brunette locks to rest on Faith's hips and squeeze them none too gently.

Faith growled into the kiss, pressing her body into Willow. Her breasts, still trapped beneath her bra, pressed against Willow's free ones, and her pelvis ground into Willow's forcefully as she slipped a leg between Willow's.

Flares of desire shot through the redhead, her knees growing weak and her body threatening to succumb to the passion any moment as wave upon wave of want crashed through her and flowed down to her core.

She felt Faith pull away slightly, her fingers gripping Willow's hips lightly as she stepped back, pulling Willow with her. Willow's eyes, which had flickered closed as the pleasure rolled through her, opened and sought out Faith's own. The Slayer's eyes were nearly black with desire, and Willow was sure her eyes reflected a similar image. Smiling coyly, Willow allowed herself to be led to the awaiting bed.

Faith spun them at the last moment, causing Willow to be the one to drop to the mattress instead of Faith. The redhead's giggle of surprise quickly turned into a throaty moan when Faith straddled her, her hands running up and down Willow's stomach and ribs gently.

"Faith."

"What?" The Slayer smirked.

"One of us is wearing too much clothing. _Both_ of us are wearing too much clothing for my liking."

"And you'd like me to fix this?" Her voice was like velvet.

Willow nodded, smiling lightly.

Faith's teeth showed as she smiled, liking Willow's suggestion. She moved off the redhead's hips and stood up, keeping eye contact with Willow the whole time she removed her pants. Her fingers slowly trailed down her stomach before beginning to work the button loose at a painfully slow pace. Willow held the girl's eyes as long as she could, but her vision dropped down of its own accord, watching as the brunette undid her zipper with tantalizingly slow movements. Her fingers grasped her belt loops, gently tugging the material from her hips. Her pants pooled at the floor and she stepped out of them, moving towards the bed.

Willow's head was spinning. Faith, the Faith who until recently had been spending her days in a prison yard, the Faith who had agreed to come back to Sunnydale despite all the bad blood between her and the other Scoobies, was standing at the foot of the bed, clad only in a black bra and thong.

And then she wasn't wearing anything.

Willow forgot to breathe.

The Slayer slunk forward, crawling onto the bed and hovering over Willow.

The redhead's mind was seriously beginning to malfunction; she couldn't move she was so hypnotized by the beauty above her.

Faith settled between the redhead's legs before lowering herself down, kissing Willow. As before, it started off slowly, but it soon grew more passionate as Faith's tongue began pressing into Willow's mouth.

Both girls' hands strayed as they continued to kiss. Willow's moved forward, her hands reaching Faith's free breasts that had been rubbing against her own. She could feel the hardened nubs of Faith's nipples pressing into her palms as she rolled them with her fingers.

Willow was in heaven. She was living among the stars in the most beautiful place she could imagine.

And then Faith's knee pressed roughly into her, grinding into her center.

The witch pulled away from the kiss, head tilted back as she gasped at the overflow of sensations. Faith moved her knee again and Willow's hips jerked with the motion, pressing into the contact. The Slayer smirked as she kissed along Willow's exposed neck, down to the hollow of her throat and past, moving to kiss down Willow's chest once more.

Willow's mouth opened with a soundless moan as Faith moved further and further down. Her hips jerked again as Faith's tongue, kissing its way down her whole body, swirled and dipped into her bellybutton. The ache between her legs grew more intense as Faith stayed there a moment, enjoying watching the witch's torment.

Then the kisses continued downward, taking in the salty sheen that had begun to cover the redhead's body. The very tips of Faith's fingers slipped below the waste-band of her pants the moment her lips no longer reached skin. Faith looked up, smiling devilishly at Willow, before her fingers moved to undo Willow's pants.

Willow lifted her hips off the bed as Faith's hands tugged the material downward, removing her pants and underwear as one. Then she held her breath, a sudden wave of nervousness making its way through her body.

The other girl noticed it, immediately moving to kiss the skin of Willow's legs reassuringly. "You're gorgeous," she insisted.

"Goddess…you…uhh, you too," Willow was having trouble with coherent thought.

Kissing her way along one thigh, Faith made sure to taste every inch of Willow's smooth, ivory skin. Willow was in paradise as Faith's lips tried to memorize every inch of her. Tantalizingly slow, using her tongue and teeth to tease her, Faith made her way down one leg to Willow's feet, and then kissed her way back up.

Willow's body shivered again at the sensations; Faith's tongue snaking to press along the underside of her knee, her teeth dragging along the inside of her thigh. She moaned again, incapable of doing anything other than simply feeling the other girl against her. The Slayer kissed and sucked again on her thigh, using her teeth for a moment before soothing the skin with the flat of her tongue.

"Oh, Goddess," Willow whimpered.

Faith lifted her head and the redhead watched through hooded eyes as Faith's lips came to meet hers again. They kissed for a moment before Faith continued on, kissing along Willow's jaw line while her hand strayed to one of the witch's breasts; she began rolling the nipple between her fingers again as she hummed against alabaster skin. Her free hand, which had been resting on Willow's ribs, slowly began moving southward.

Tingles of anticipation began to overtake Willow. She was so already so overwhelmed with what she was feeling, she wasn't sure she could hold on for what she knew came next.

It wasn't just that she had gone a fair while without being touched so intimately, somehow Faith's presence was enough to nearly push her over the edge as it was. The brunette had claimed and boasted about talent in bed, and the burning desire pulsing through Willow was testament to that. Faith's touch was like magic against her skin.

A gasp broke free when Faith's hand finally reached between her legs, but they only grazed over her. Her fingers pushed lower, pressing into the skin of her thighs and passing over where Willow wanted her to be.

She could feel Faith smiling into her neck.

"Tease," Willow gasped out as Faith continued to touch just shy of Willow's folds, her own fingers clawing into Faith's back.

Faith's hand stilled and she lifted he head. "You… you sure you want this?" She asked, looking intently at Willow and giving her a final chance to stop them before they went too far.

_Is she crazy? She wants to stop now?_

The witch's hands ran up Faith's back and tangled into her hair, pulling Faith back down to meet her awaiting lips. Willow kissed her with all the passion she could muster, wanting Faith to feel exactly what she was feeling. Her fingers massaged into Faith's scalp, but she let the brunette pull away.

"I want this, I want you," Willow reassured, squeezing her legs together and trapping Faith's hand between them. She moaned, "God, can't you feel what you're doing to me."

She was trying to focus on Faith's face, but her head was still spinning as her core burned with need for release. Something flickered across Faith's features; it was too fast however for Willow's distracted brain to decipher. But her pleas must have been convincing enough that she wanted this, as she began to move her hand.

Willow arched uncontrollably into the touch. Faith's hand began moving slowly at first, spreading Willow's wetness over her folds. Her fingers slid easily over Willow, slipping inside only slightly before moving away.

"Faith." Willow wasn't sure the word was distinguishable from her heavy breathing.

The Slayer finally pushed a finger inside and Willow whimpered, growing more turned on with the feeling of Faith moving inside her. The girl set a steady, gentle pace, easing the redhead into the sensation before adding another finger.

Willow was in heaven. Willow had died and gone to heaven.

Though the hand on her breast and the lips against her shoulder continued to move as they were, the movements of Faith's hand became faster, pressing deeper and deeper into Willow. One of the redhead's hands stayed gripping Faith's back, the other fell to the bedspread, grasping the sheets tightly.

Willow felt her whole body begin to shake. She was fast approaching oblivion.

"Faith, please," she gasped, begging the brunette to push her over the edge.

The girl licked and nipped along her shoulder, clearly enjoying herself. But she complied. Her thumb moved, coating itself in Willow's wetness before it began circling the redhead's clit. Slow, tantalizing, incredible circles. Willow's breathing hitched and her body arched further into the contact.

Willow could feel her walls clenching as Faith's fingers pressed harder into her, feel herself getting closer as Faith added more pressure to her already sensitive clit.

The brunette lifted her head and pressed her lips against Willow's, thrusting her tongue into the redhead's mouth in time with the movements of her hand.

That did it.

Willow moaned deeply into the kiss, feeling her whole body go rigid as pleasure coursed through her. She felt herself tightening against Faith's fingers and could feel her juices spill out over the other girl's hand.

"Oh Goddess, Faith," she breathed out.

Faith took her time placing dainty kisses along Willow's face, neck and chest, waiting for the shell-shocked witch to be more than a puddle of goo.

Willow let a lazy hand run through Faith's dark tresses, her body beginning to come down from its high. "That…"

"That what?" Faith smirked.

"That… that was… incredible."

Faith laughed a deep throaty sound, "You looked like you enjoyed it."

Willow pulled the Slayer into a passionate kiss. Breaking away she mumbled against Faith's lips, "Only in every sense of the word."

"That's good. I'm pretty awesome in bed."

Shoving lightly against Faith's shoulder, Willow suppressed her comment of, "You're so full of yourself," and settled for, "You aren't the only one."

"That so, Rosenburg?"

Willow purred as she pulled Faith closer and rolled them over so she was on top, "Mmmm, yes." She kissed Faith again, letting her tongue swirl around the brunette's a moment while her heartbeat calmed. She felt tingly and happy and relaxed all over, and wanted Faith to feel the same way. She wanted to be the one to _make_ Faith feel that way.

She kissed her way down Faith's neck, letting her tongue leave a hot trail wherever it touched. Faith's olive skin was flushed and coated with a thin sheen of sweat, and Willow made sure to kiss every inch of it. She wanted to claim every part of Faith, know the other girl's body as intimately as possible. She wanted to find all the spots that would make the Slayer below her scream with passion or whimper with need.

Faith gasped as Willow let her teeth press into the hollow of the brunette's throat and Willow felt heady with the sound. She kissed and sucked on the other girl's pulse point, leaving a mark she knew would be gone by morning with Faith's enhanced healing.

It made Willow want to mark her harder, to be able to leave something that would last longer than a few hours on Faith's beautiful skin. But she let herself settle for kissing down Faith's chest, knowing that marking Faith's skin could be disastrous in the morning if someone noticed.

She didn't want to think about the state of her own pale and easily bruising neck.

The kisses continued down to Faith's breasts, where Willow let her tongue swirl over the smooth skin a few times before taking the hardened nub into her mouth. Faith groaned as Willow's teeth dragged across it, and the sound reverberated through her body and into Willow, encouraging the redhead to continue.

Willow wanted to stay where she was, but her desire to learn every inch of Faith's skin was more overpowering. She finished teasing both of Faith's nipples and then let her head dip lower, leaving a trail of hot, wet kisses down the brunette's abdomen. The witch could feel Faith's muscles twitching in response, desperately trying to hold still as Willow lavished her skin.

Down she continued, pausing over Faith's bellybutton to dip her tongue inside. Her name on Faith's lips became a long, pleasure-filled moan in the Slayer's throat. Her lips moved to one side, kissing along to one hip, and then back across to her other.

And then Willow couldn't hold off any longer.

Scooting down as she kissed, Willow let her lips continue their journey until they met Faith's dark curls, already damp with the Slayer's wetness. The redhead breathed in the smell of Faith's arousal, her mind drifting as the heady smell made its way across her senses.

Faith's juices were spread over her folds; pleasuring Willow had clearly gotten the Slayer aroused and worked up.

Willow planned to fix that.

She flashed the other girl a gentle smile before letting her head drop down, her lips beginning to work against Faith. The Slayer groaned loudly at the contact, her hips rising to meet Willow.

One of Faith's hands tangled in Willow's hair, pressing the redhead harder against her heat. The witch let her tongue flatten as she ran it up and down along Faith's folds, adding pressure where she knew the Slayer needed it. Then it slipped into Faith's center, reaching deep inside the brunette girl. Again Faith arched into the contact, moaning Willow's name.

Immediately Willow set a fast pace, her tongue thrusting inside the Slayer and pulling out again, knowing Faith would want to be taken a little harder than herself.

"Oh, God Willow… fuck, yes…" she groaned, a deep guttural sound of desire and pleasure mixing together.

"Hmmm, you like that," Willow hummed, knowing the vibrations would travel right to Faith's core.

The Slayer moaned again and pressed her hand harder into Willow's hair, her hips canting to meet the pace of the redhead's expert tongue.

Without breaking stride, Willow pulled her tongue from Faith's heat and replaced it with her fingers, pressing roughly into the girl while her lips encircled Faith's clit, sucking and swirling her tongue around the sensitive bundle of nerves.

Another finger slipped through Faith's folds, curling inside to reach that oh-so sensitive spot. At the same time, Willow let her teeth graze over Faith's clit, applying just the right amount of pressure.

The brunette moaned Willow's name, her body shuddering and her walls clamping around the redhead's fingers as the orgasm rolled through her. Willow continued to stroke Faith's inner-folds, extending the pleasure for as long as possible.

Her lips moved down, capturing the juices as they slipped from between her legs. The honey-like liquid had a musky taste that sent Willow's head spinning as she tried to devour every last drop. When she'd finished, she crawled up the length of Faith's collapsed body, pressing her lips to the brunette's parted ones.

Faith's eyes, half-lidded, opened wider and she moaned softly, tasting herself on the redhead's lips.

After letting her tongue dance with Faith's a moment, she kissed along the brunette's jaw before resting her head against Faith's shoulder, her fingers gently playing the other girl's dark locks.

When Faith had gotten her ragged breathing under control she let out a low, "Holy shit."

Willow's fingers were drawing patterns in Faith's hair where it was splayed against the white pillow under her head. "You liked?" she asked in a hushed voice.

The witch could actually hear Faith roll her eyes, "Damn Red, that was amazing."

"You weren't so bad yourself."

Faith laughed, "To me it sounded a lot better than 'not so bad.'"

Willow lifted her head, her eyes sparkling, "I… you… you made me feel… it was incredible."

She let her head fall back down, resting lightly on Faith's shoulder. The Slayer draped a protective arm over her as the two basked in their state of contented bliss.


	55. May 12, 1998

_**May 12, 1998**_

The first thing Faith was aware of was how much it hurt.

The second was that she was no longer on her feet.

The third was how much it fucking _hurt._

* * *

She'd started having the dreams, the Slayer dreams. They'd begun about a week ago, dreams where she was another girl in another time, always fighting some sort of creature of darkness, always ending in her death.

Except it wasn't her death.

It was the other girls.

She was re-living the other girl's deaths.

That was a rather depressing thought.

Faith hadn't told Diana yet, she didn't want to get the older woman's hopes up. She'd read through most of the more recent Watcher Diaries in Diana's possession. Despite the fact that they were really boring, and hand-written instead of typed, she'd still read through them. They were interesting, learning about special teenage girls Chosen by some higher power to protect the world.

Ever since her first glimpse of a vampire that night in the cemetery with Diana, Faith had been whole-heartedly convinced of everything the professor told her. It hadn't mattered just how insane the idea was. Monsters were real. Monsters were real and there were special people around the world who fought them. And Diana was one of the people hired to find and train these special people.

The one thing Faith hadn't been totally convinced of was the idea that _she_ was one of these people. Diana had somehow made a mistake in finding Faith, because there was no way she was a superhero. Those kinds of things didn't happen to her.

But Faith kept those thoughts to herself; Diana was passionate and excited about Faith's future, and the teen didn't want to ruin it by mentioning her doubts.

Most days Faith convinced herself that it was possible she was one of these Potential girls, but that there was no way she was going to be a Slayer. That wasn't going to happen.

But it didn't stop her from letting Diana basically re-make Faith's whole life and revolve it around preparing her for this potential event.

First, Faith had been withdrawn from school under the pretence of Diana's home-schooling. Which was true, the professor was making sure she kept up with math and English. But mainly her studies revolved around Slaying.

She'd read the Watcher Diaries of her own accord, that hadn't been something Diana had assigned. In her first few days in the woman's house Diana had suggested Faith skim through a few of the books, but she hadn't expected Faith to read almost all of them.

What Faith had been assigned to read was a bunch of books of vampire and demon lore. Which hadn't actually been that bad. Now that she'd actually seen something, seen a real vampire, everything in the books made sense and gave her a strong urge. She wanted to stop them. She didn't think she was this special girl with undeveloped powers, but now that she'd seen the other side she wanted in the fight. So reading through Diana's endless number of books hadn't been too horrible. Diana testing her on the material though, not as enjoyable.

It was also apparent that Faith was going to learn how to fight. Like, _properly._ It was clear that Diana was too old and brittle to do a lot of the training. She gave lessons and taught Faith about weapons and set up a workout area in the basement, but she could only teach so much without getting involved. So Faith was signed up for a slew of martial arts and technique lessons at a nearby dojo.

Which was probably the best part of this whole deal.

It was where she spent most of her mornings while Diana was at the university. She'd work out, learn new techniques, and basically get to go crazy. Then Diana would pick her up after she'd finished lecturing and they'd head back to the professor's house wherein there would be book work and more training.

It wasn't really that bad a life. Everything was pretty normal.

Until today.

"You need to focus less on how much force you are putting into it, Faith, and focus more on where you want the force to go."

She was in her kickboxing lesson – all her classes were private, as paid for by the Watcher's Council, so that she wouldn't have to hold back. She wasn't _super-powered_, but Faith discovered she was still stronger than most girls her age. Plus, the private lessons meant the instructor was focused solely on her and could correct her instantaneously if something was wrong.

Which apparently it was.

"Meaning what?" She replied lazily.

The man shook his head at her, "You are thinking too much about how hard you are kicking the dummy. What I need you to focus on is _where_ you need to be kicking the dummy."

"Uh… right in the middle?"

"True, but what does the dummy represent?"

He was a younger man, maybe in his late twenties, with dark skin and even darker eyes. Faith had learned from Diana that he wasn't a Watcher, but he was employed by the Council, so he knew what his job specifically entailed. Training Faith should she be the next girl Chosen.

Which she wouldn't be, because life was just like that.

"Um, a vampire?"

"Exactly, Faith. You need to envision you are attacking a vampire, not a practice dummy. When you release your kicks, picture where on the vampire's body they are delivered."

"Got it," she agreed, because really, it made sense.

These fighting lessons were probably the easiest of lesson's she ever had in her life. They were difficult, but they made _sense._ Unlike math or chemistry or whatever. She had always been athletic, but all of this seemed to come to her naturally. She'd only been learning at the dojo for four months, but the lessons had worked wonders.

Faith could feel her body getting stronger.

Faith could feel that she was putting her frustrations at the world to good use.

Staring down the bag suspended from the ceiling, Faith imagined it was a real vampire. Old, smelling of death, with fangs and a bumpy forehead. She watched as the figure loomed over her, wanting to do her in.

_Square in the chest_, Faith thought. _That's where I'm aiming for._

Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Faith went through the exercise again, but this time with more passion.

She envisioned the vampire attacking, taking a swipe at her. The teen ducked under the attack, then spun as she came back up to her full height, letting her bare foot shoot forward to impact the vampire in the center of its chest.

It stumbled backwards with the force of her hit and then rushed forward, intent on attacking her again.

But before the bag completed its swing on the suspended chain and impacted her, before she was even aware of what was happened, every cell in her body exploded with white hot pain.

Faith wasn't sure if she screamed. She probably did. But she felt the floor slip from under her as her body fell backwards with the force of the assault.

Everything hurt. Every inch. On fire.

It was like someone had replaced all her blood cells with molten lava.

Every muscle in her body clenched and tightened for a moment, unsure how to react to the pain.

She opened her mouth, trying to draw air back into her lungs. They felt like they were collapsing.

Faintly she heard her instructor calling her name, felt the press of his fingers against her arm. Shaking her. Trying to understand what was wrong with her.

After a moment her body relaxed and the air was able to rush back into her lungs again.

Faith gasped, taking a deep and shuddering breath. That was what her instructor was always telling her, _breath through the pain._ So she did, feeling the cold air rush past her teeth in a shaky inhale.

The pain receded as fast as it had initially come, leaving her dazed and lying on the hardwood floor, her instructor's worried face hovering over her, calling her name.

She flexed her fingers. Still there.

Her toes too, they were still attached.

She rose up slightly, leaning her weight on her elbows and looked down her body, trying to discover the source of the pain. Nothing seemed wrong. Nothing was broken or protruding or bleeding. The pain was gone.

"Faith."

Her eyes slowly wandered from watching the still swinging punching bag to meeting the eyes of her instructor. "I… I think you should call Diana."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm not sure. It… everything hurt for a minute. But I…"

"You've been Chosen."

"No," Faith replied instantly, "I… just had like, a heart attack or stroke or something. Call Diana."

She wasn't going to let herself believe what had just happened. There was no way.

Faith probably wouldn't believe what had just happened even if she was looking at the other girl's cold, dead body.

There was no way this was real.

She wasn't special.

What talent did she have? Why would anyone think she was worthy of such a good cause.

This couldn't be happening. She wasn't a Slayer.

Was she?


	56. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

_Faith looked around. She was standing in the middle of a dark hallway. She squinted, but it looked like the hallway stretched on forever in front of her._

"_Oh great, are we doing this again?"_

_The Slayer turned slowly. Buffy was standing behind her, looking in the other direction where the hallway stretched just as far into oblivion. "Hey."_

_Buffy looked over at the brunette, rolling her eyes. "So," she said lightly, "Is this your dream, or mine?"_

_Faith glanced up and down the hallway again, not recognizing where she was. "No idea. Where are we?"_

_Buffy walked off to one side, touching the wall. There was a metallic sound as her fingers drummed along the surface. In the dim light Faith could make out vague rectangular shapes._

"_Lockers," Buffy said. "I think we're at the high school."_

"_Definitely your dream then," Faith laughed._

_The blonde began walking, "Come on, let's see where it goes." Faith complied and followed behind._

_The younger girl felt a chill run up her spine and shivered. _

_Buffy noticed, "You sense something?"_

_Faith shook her head, "Nah, just cold." She raised her arm up, it was hard to see the goosebumps, but she knew they were there. She was suddenly very, very cold._

"_This is some hallway," Faith drawled sarcastically after they'd been walking silently for a long stretch of time. "You always have the best dreams, B."_

_Buffy bumped shoulders with her. "Shut up. It isn't my fault. I can't control what happens."_

_They continued walking through the deserted hallway; the only sound was their shoes against the tile floor._

"_Damn," Faith cursed, rubbing her hands over her arms, "Aren't you cold?"_

"_Yeah, but you've got bare arms," she held up her own arm, "I've got long sleeves. It is really cold though; I can feel the draft."_

_Faith scoffed, "Jesus B, could you dream of anything more eventful? If you're gonna drag me into your subconscious, least you could do is make sure it's-"_

_The older girl stopped walking, "Shhh. Faith, do you hear that?"_

"_No."_

"_Listen!"_

_Faith rolled her eyes, but the movement was lost on Buffy in the lack of light. She stood still next to the other Slayer and listened. She could hear her breathing, Buffy's breathing, her heartbeat…_

"_A voice."_

"_Voices," the blonde clarified._

"_Comin' from down the hall."_

"_Are they…" Buffy took a step forward and halted. A frown was setting on her face. "What are they saying?"_

_Faith pushed, but couldn't make out the words. To her it only sounded like a blending of different sounds, some screaming and some laughing. They were all high pitched though, like children's voices. It was a mixture of children having fun and being tortured. Faith cringed; the sound was melodic and airy but laced with all kinds of wrong. The kind of wrong she was Chosen to notice._

"_B, this isn't right."_

"_No, come on," Buffy took three slow steps forward, cautious should something jump out of one of the abandoned lockers._

_Faith grabbed her companion's arm, "Stoppin' you there, Buffy. Something's wrong here."_

"_Faith, it's a dream, what could happen?"_

"_In the world _we_ live in? A hell of a lot."_

"_They're calling us, Faith. Let's just see what it is." Buffy pulled free of the brunette's grasp and started walking forward. Faith grumbled to herself but complied, following the blonde as she walked down the hallway._

_A breeze started to pick up; Faith could feel the air rushing past her, drawing her closer to whatever was at the end of the hallway. Her dark locks tossed about and the hairs on her arms stood on end as the chill blew over her._

"_B?"_

_Buffy's pace had slowed. She turned around to face Faith as she pulled the sleeves of her shirt further down so they were covering her wrists and fingers. Her hair too was blowing in the unknown breeze, looking like honey-coloured straw on the wind._

"_Yeah, I'm not liking this," she called over the gusts. "I mean, my human intuition is screaming 'No!' at me…"_

"_But the Slayer ain't saying a peep," Faith finished. It was true. Faith felt apprehensive and her gut was disagreeing with their continuance down the hall, but she wasn't feeling any of the usual Slayer tingles telling her something was a bad idea._

"_Should we go back?"_

"_To where? The other end of oblivion? The hall went on forever in both directions."_

"_So…" Buffy looked nervous, "So what should we do? Should we keep-"_

_The voices, which had been drowned out with the source-less wind, picked up and were suddenly louder, overpowering the whistle of the gusts of air rushing down the hallway. They were screaming. The voices were most definitely screaming in fear._

_But in amongst them Faith could still hear laughter._

_What the hell was going on?_

_The two Slayers shared a look and then jogged down the hallway, wanting to help whoever was in trouble. _

"_Faith, what's that? Up ahead?" Buffy pointed as the continued moving closer and closer._

"_No freakin' clue."_

_It was a source of light. They couldn't tell what it was, they were still too far away, but it was giving off brilliant, white light. Shadows danced on the lockers as they rushed past, looking like the claws of demons trying to grab at them._

_The pair stopped short when they reached the source of the light; or rather, when they couldn't continue any farther. The light was coming from just up ahead, but something blocked their path._

"_That is one big spider's web," Buffy said, looking up. The silk-coloured string of the web stretched from all four corners of the hallway, completely blocking anyone from moving further down the hall. The web shuddered slightly as the wind continued to blow. It glistened too, small beads of liquid caught on the sticky surface and reflecting the light coming from behind._

"_Damn," was all Faith could manage as a reply._

_The web was intricate, with pieces as thin as a hair in the center of the design weaving together and intertwining with pieces becoming thicker and thicker until they were as wide as her arm around the edges._

"_I can still hear them," Buffy said, looking through the gaps in the web and trying to see what was behind it. _

_Faith knew Buffy couldn't see anything, because she herself couldn't. It was almost pitch black behind them and brightly lit in front of them. Her eyes were having a hard time adjusting._

"_B, what are you doing!" Faith shouted as Buffy's hand reached forward, fingers about to touch the spider's web._

"_Faith, we have to go through it," the blonde said with confidence. _

"_Are you insane? I'm thinkin' no, we don't go through it."_

"_It's just silk, Faith. It's not like it's poisonous. We have to know what's on the other side."_

"_What makes you so sure?"_

"_It's a Slayer dream, Faith. They always have meanings. We have to get to the other side, what's over there could be the clue we need to defeat The First."_

_The younger girl took a generous step back, "B, I admire your drive. I do. When you get on a task, you jump in head first till it's done. You're great at that. But, please, just think for a minute. That, that is a big web."_

"_Yes. But it's only a spider's web, Faith, it isn't cement. I could shred it with my pinkie."_

"_I'm not so worried about the actual _web_, B."_

"_Then what's the hold up?"_

"_Buff, I'm thinking about what _made _that web. That's gotta be… that's gotta be one nasty-ass spider."_

_The other Slayer's eyes grew wide as she realized this. Looking back at the web, Buffy's mouth gaped open. "Oh…"_

"_Yeah. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be here when mama gets back."_

_Buffy took a small step backwards, away from the web and closer to Faith. "You know, that's actually a really good point." She paused a moment, "But, Faith, we have to know what's on the other side."_

"_You're absolutely sure. Like, I'm not kiddin, B. You are one hundred percent sure that we _need_ to see whatever's on the other side of this thing?"_

"_About… about sixty percent sure."_

"_That is not a number I like, Blondie."_

_Buffy pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought, "Euhggg, I don't know what to do."_

"_Take your time, take your time. I'll just be here, waiting to be spider food."_

"_Not helping!"_

_While Buffy played general and contemplated exactly what they needed to do, Faith took periodic glances over shoulder, watching out for the web-maker. It was hard to see anything, with the light source casting the web's shadows down the hall, shadows still moving because the web shook in the strong wind, it was hard to make out any movement of the overly-large arachnid variety._

"_Okay," Buffy said, speaking up. _

_Faith turned back to the other girl. "Yeah?"_

"_We go through. We rip through this thing as fast as possible, and then we go through and hope to God nothing follows us."_

_Faith did not like this plan. Not at all. But she trusted Buffy, and really, what other options were there? Stand around here waiting to be spider-chow? "After you," she offered._

_Buffy glared but moved forward again. She reached out a hand, her fingertips hovering just before the silk strings of the web. Her fear got the better of her and she hesitated. _

"_B…?"_

_Buffy's hand was shaking, her nerves taking over. She took a deep breath, "I can do this. I'm a Slayer. This is a spider's web. I can do this."_

_She still didn't move._

"_I… I can… God, Faith, I'm so freaked I can't move."_

_The younger Slayer gulped, "Together?" She regretted it the moment the words were out of her mouth._

_The blonde nodded mutely. Faith stepped forward, one of her hands grasping Buffy's. Linked hands between them, the girls raised their free hands forward, letting their fingers touch the web._

_Their terrified screams erupted in the empty hallway._

_Both felt a rush of blazing white-hot heat blast its way through their bodies, paralyzing them from tip to toe as the immense feelings of pain, power, fear, courage, supreme heat and ultimate cold took over. _

_And then the world collapsed into darkness around them._

* * *

Faith hated sleeping at the Summer's home for one very strong reason: everyone seemed to enjoy waking her up. Faith enjoyed sleep. She and sleep were old friends. In prison she had been forced to develop a pattern with sleep, as it, along with everything from meals to washroom breaks, were scheduled. But as soon as she was out of prison she embraced sleep like an old friend.

It didn't matter that it was the apocalypse. Faith liked sleep.

And as was becoming routine, someone was waking her from it.

She was lying on her stomach, face down in the pillow. Though she was growing more and more awake by the moment, she kept her breathing even and feigned slumber, determined to figure out who the offender was.

"…it's only eight thirty." Kennedy. She sounded grumpy.

"Yeah, I know that. But we already made breakfast. It's like a breakfast train. Me, Anya, Vi, and Andrew." Dawn. Sounding way to chipper for Faith's liking. It was clearly her fault the rest of the room was becoming awake.

"What if we don't want breakfast?" Caridad.

"Well then you'll have to just jump into training with my sister on an empty stomach, won't you?"

"Fine, fine. What exactly did you make, Dawn?" Dominique.

"Eggs. Lots and lots and lots of eggs. It is like, attack of the egg monster in the kitchen." Faith could hear the excitement in Dawn's voice.

"And everyone else is already up?" Carmen.

"Working on it, this is the wakeup call. But if you want first choice, I'd head downstairs now."

Faith growled lowly when the sound of the girls stampeding out of the room filled her ears. One of Willow's hands rubbed against her arm under the blanket in comfort; the witch knew she was awake.

"Willow, aren't you and Faith getting up."

The redhead yawned, "In a minute. Though, Dawn? Next time, knocking would be a good idea." The sheets rustled as Willow sat up in bed.

"What?" Faith could practically hear Dawn's eye-roll. "It's not like you two are naked under there. You're not scarring my innocent eyes or anything. Plus, the other girls were in here. What could I have walked in on besides you sleeping?"

_Right_, Faith though, remembering the night before with a smile. She and Willow had managed to get themselves into some oversized t-shirts before the Potentials arrived for the night.

But if Willow's bare legs pressing against her own were any indication, neither of them were wearing anything other than a shirt.

"R-right," Willow coughed.

"Oh my God, you two actually had sex last night, didn't you! Oh my God! Yes! I knew it!"

Faith growled again.

"Dawn, any louder and the rest of the house will hear. And, you know, we'd rather that not happen."

The younger girl continued to squeal in excitement.

Without lifting her head, Faith's hands closed around the pillow she was using. Then, fast as lightning, it was whipped across the room in the direction of the doorway.

Dawn squealed again, this time in surprise. There was a plush thump as the pillow connected with something; Faith hoped it was Dawn's head.

"Out," she grumbled, head resting on her arms and still not looking up.

"Alright, I get it. I'm leaving," the younger girl giggled. "Have fun eating cold eggs. Oh, and Buffy's up and calling a meeting later today, so heads up." The door closed as she left the room.

"You didn't have to throw a pillow at her," Willow mock-scolded.

"She didn't have to wake us up," the Slayer retorted.

"She also didn't have to make us breakfast. And she did. So we should be-"

"If you say grateful, I'll pinch you."

"-thankful."

"Same thing," Faith smirked, sitting up and smiling wickedly at Willow.

"Oh, no you don't," the redhead giggled as she leapt from the bed and out of Faith's reach. "I bruise easily."

"So I can see."

Willow's face clouded in confusion. "What…?" Then her eyes grew wide. "Oh!" she squeaked, hand running up to touch her neck. "Please, please, please tell me there isn't a mark on my neck. _Please_ tell me I don't have a love-bite on my neck." Her face was flushing deep red by this point.

"Relax, Willow," Faith smiled. "I can be considerate, you know? Your neck's fine. No hickeys."

"Then what did you…"

Faith raised her eye brows, looking pointedly at the creamy skin of the witch's legs. On her thighs were a few marks left courtesy of Faith's mouth.

Willow made a strange noise, somewhere between a gasp and a giggle. Stretching one leg out, she inspected the marks on her skin.

Faith tried, she tried really hard, but she couldn't suppress the flare of hungry desire as Willow's shirt rode up slightly. Her voice was strained as she said, "You should get dressed, or there will be more where those came from."

Realizing Faith's meaning, the redhead nodded and moved to her dresser to find something to wear.

"It's a good thing it isn't shorts weather."

"Yeah, and you may want to consider not wearing a strappy tank top either."

"What?"

"I may have left a few teeth marks on your shoulder."

"Faith!"


	57. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

"So, what's new in the world of Buffy?" Willow asked cheerfully, gracelessly plopping herself down on Buffy's bed.

"Wills, I just made that."

"Ooops," Willow giggled. "Sorry about that."

"What's up? You seem in a good mood."

Trying very hard to stop smiling, Willow answered, "No reason." The stern face faltered and a smile broke through.

"Willow. We're about to go to war. And yet, you're all… glow-y. What's up? Something's clearly up."

"No!" the redhead argued too quickly. Realizing how defensive that sounded she tried again, slower this time, "No, I'm not. I'm not glow-y at all. See," she held up her hands, "glow free!"

_Okay, even I don't believe me._

Buffy raised her eyebrows at the strange behaviour as she sat down next to the redhead, "Um, yeah. You're not being very convincing."

Faith's voice sounded from the doorway, "Maybe she's still on a high from all the wicked sex she had last night."

The witch whirled, glaring at Faith with the biggest _what the hell?_ face she could muster. What was she thinking? Saying something like that? The whole point of them being quiet about all this was exactly that, them being _quiet._ And now Faith had-

"God, Faith. Grow up," Buffy scoffed, her face pinching in disgust. "Seeing as how most of this house constitutes as 'jailbait,' I highly doubt Willow was getting her sexy on last night."

"Just 'cause you're not having fun doesn't mean Red can't."

"Faith, just stop. Please. We don't need to talk about sex first thing in the morning."

Faith smirked, "You're just mad because we're talking about Willow's sexy times, not yours. But if you wanna talk about _your_ sex life, be my-"

"Oh my God, just stop talking!"

They were doing that thing again. That thing where Buffy and Faith talked around her like she wasn't in the room. But for once she was grateful. If either of them had started speaking _to_ her instead of around her, and she was expected to give a reply, Willow was fairly certain the only intelligible thing that would come out of her mouth would be an embarrassed squeak.

Faith seemed to notice and take pity on her. "So, D said something about a meeting? Where's the fire?"

"Slayer dream," Buffy said evenly.

"Damn, I was hoping you'd forget about that."

Buffy huffed, "Hardly."

"You two shared a Slayer dream again last night?" Willow asked, interested and very appreciative of the change in subject.

"Yup," Faith replied, dropping to sit in the chair at Buffy's desk. "And no freaky re-living thing either. This one was freshly picked." She stretched her denim clad legs out in front of her as she leaned back.

"And what happened?"

"Nothing," the blonde replied.

Willow immediately began to scold the girl, "Buffy-"

"No, really, Wills. Nothing actually happened. There was an empty hallway, wind, and some far off voices. Nothing actually went down."

"How did you even manage to dream last night, weren't you tired?" Willow honestly meant for this question to be innocent and be directed at both Slayers after their ordeal at the bus station. But one snort from Faith made Willow roll her eyes and blush. She shot the brunette Slayer a look that said _you aren't helping._

Faith shrugged. She was enjoying herself.

Buffy continued on, oblivious to the silent conversation between the two other girls in the room. "The only big thing that happened was the spider web."

"Spiders?" Willow squeaked, looking back at her best friend.

"Just the web. It was really big. Like, really big, Willow. And, I mean, we didn't actually _see_ the thing, but it must have been one massive spider."

The witch whipped her head back at the brunette, "We sleep together last night and then you go and have nightmares about massive killer spiders? Oh, that's really nice."

Faith's eyes widened.

Buffy's eyes widened, a lot.

Willow could feel it, the blush starting around her collarbone and working up her neck, engrossing her ears until eventually her cheeks too were a stunning shade of red.

_Oh my Goddess. Word vomit._

_The number of times I've wished for the ground to swallow me whole this past week just keeps increasing, doesn't it?_

Faith was looking nervously at her, unsure of how to handle the situation. Her hands twitched at her sides, her fingers fisting until Willow could see her muscles in her arm standing out. The brunette worried her lip while staring directly at Willow, fear slowly creeping into her eyes.

Buffy's mouth had formed an 'o' shape. "Um…" she finally ventured. "Wh… what did…?" She looked between Faith, who looked like she was having an internal panic attack, and Willow, who was sure she was looking very much like a tomato at the moment. "That… that what was a joke, because you're sharing a bed, right?"

Willow blinked, looking at her best friend. "Ah…"

Buffy didn't look angry or confused or concerned. Just… curious. "Willow, that was a joke, wasn't it?"

"Well, I mean… yes? Except… except no, no, um, not… not exactly?" Her eyes flickered to Faith, asking for help.

"B…" Faith tried.

Buffy looked between them again. "You… you two… you two slept together last night. Like… _slept_ together. You… you had…?" She looked almost afraid to say it.

"Yes," Willow said quietly. "Faith and I had sex last night."

"Oh God."

"Buffy-"

"No, no, please," she held up her hand to Willow. "Give me… fuck… give me a minute." Buffy cursing was never a good thing.

"Buffy, please. It's not that big-"

"Willow," Buffy said quietly, stopping her.

Willow promptly shut her mouth.

The blonde Slayer slowly turned to look at her counterpart. "You… you slept with Willow." Her voice wasn't laced with anger, only need for understanding.

Faith looked away.

And _that_ made Willow's heart jump. Faith was ashamed? Faith was ashamed that she'd had sex?

_No. She's ashamed she had sex with _me.

That hurt more than Buffy's current reaction ever would.

But when Faith looked back at Buffy, her eyes nervously flickering to the redhead before jutting her chin out defiantly and locking eyes with the blonde, Willow realized she was wrong.

_She's not ashamed. She's scared. She's scared of _Buffy_._

And then it made sense.

Faith had already slept with one of Buffy's closest friends. And she'd basically dumped him on the side of the road when she'd finished with him. And during the body-swap, while wearing Buffy's skin, Faith had slept with Buffy's boyfriend, effectively fracturing the blonde's relationship with Riley and becoming one of the many reasons the two had broken up.

Faith was scared of Buffy.

Faith was scared of how Buffy was going to react to this little confession.

"Buffy," Willow tried softly, wanting to draw the blame away from Faith.

Buffy slowly peeled her intense gaze away from Faith and turned to look at the redhead sitting next to her. But her eyes only lingered a moment before looking back at the other Slayer. "You two slept together."

Faith nodded.

Buffy took a deep breath, "Am I missing the punch line here, because this is so not what I need right now. How-"

Faith was staying chillingly quiet so Willow spoke up, "Buffy, please."

Something in her voice must have struck a chord with the blonde, because Buffy turned back to look at the witch. Willow met her gaze, but felt herself wanting to fidget. She felt like her friend was scrutinizing her, judging her.

Buffy spoke slowly. "So… was this a one time-"

"No."

Willow felt like her heart had been replaced by a bunch of sugar-hyper butterflies when that one little word of hope tumbled from Faith's mouth.

"No?" Buffy questioned. Her eyes widened, looking back and forth between the two girls again.

Faith continued, "No, B, I mean. Damn it." A hand ran through her hair, Willow could see it shaking. "This was the… first," the brunette seemed to flinch on her own choice of words, "But it wasn't… it's not… it's not like that. We…" She struggled, trying to find the words she wanted.

Willow had never seen Faith like this before. At a complete loss for words, with her emotions written so clearly across her face.

"Buffy," Willow pleaded softly, breaking the void of sound that had settled over them when Faith's words had tapered off.

"You two are together?" The blonde asked, her voice even and strong compared to the barely-there tone the redhead had used.

Willow's eyes sought out the brunette's, unsure how to answer. "I…" Faith's body was taught, her shoulders stiff and her jaw set, like she was a spring coiled too tightly and about to burst. Her hands were clenched in fists against her jeans. But her eyes were open and familiar; where her body was tense her eyes were relaxed. She was letting Willow answer. "I think so… yes."

Buffy sucked in a breath and bit down on her lip.

"Buffy, please."

Buffy let out her breath and nodded her head once. "I'm not…" she looked back and forth between them, eyes lingering on Faith's still form. "I'm not really sure I can deal with this right now."

"Buffy."

"No, Willow, it's okay. I mean, well, not exactly _okay _okay. But I'm just going to file this away and deal with it later. I'm not really sure what to do with this. My best friend and…" she seemed unsure of an appropriate label with the other Slayer and eventually settled with, "And Faith."

"B," Faith finally spoke up, her voice sounding raw and with a hint of fear.

"I said I wasn't sure how to deal with it. I didn't say I was going to… physically hurt you in some way. I just need some time to deal with this. But later," she stressed. "Later, when we're not about to die. Later you two can tell me exactly what is going on." She blinked. "Without any sexy details. I'm not ready for that," her lips pulled up in a slight grin.

She was okay with it. In her own way, this was Buffy saying she was okay with it.

Willow allowed herself to laugh, watching as the tension seemed to leave Faith's body for the time being. "So, these spiders."

Buffy gratefully latched onto the change in subject. "There weren't any. There was a really big web, but we didn't see any spiders."

Willow blushed. "So you didn't actually dream about spiders?"

Faith just smirked at her.

They didn't actually dream about spiders. There had been no reason for her outburst and subsequent revealing of their tentative relationship to Buffy. Willow had just embarrassed herself – and Faith – in front of the blonde Slayer for no reason.

Oh, that was going to take a few hours to get over.


	58. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

"So, you didn't actually dream about spiders?"

"No, Dawn. There was no spiders."

"Well that makes it less cool."

"There was a web, that's it."

Dawn rolled her eyes, "Even less cool."

"Do you want the dreams? Because if you want them, you can gladly have them. If I could give them to you, trust me, I would. I'd rather you suffer with them than me."

"I'd probably be able to make some better connections than you do."

"I'm the Slayer. I slay things. I don't analyze the things my subconscious comes up with. You're the sister, that's your job."

"No, my job is to flush the toilet when you're in the shower. And put food in your hair when you're sleeping. And to hide your favourite clothes in places I know you won't be able to find them. Like burying them in the garden, that's always fun."

"You stopped hiding my clothes when you were twelve."

"As far as you know."

"Can we do away with the banter and focus on the task at hand?" Giles asked. "We were discussing your dream."

Buffy's eyes travelled to Faith and then quickly skittered away. "Right…"

The current Scooby meeting was taking place in the basement. It was still early – Dawn's breakfast plan had woken up most of the house. And since the girls had just eaten, Faith and Buffy were giving them time to digest before starting the day's training session.

Plus there was the whole dream thing to discuss.

So somehow they'd ended up in the basement; the whole Scooby gang. Xander and Anya were sitting side by side on Spike's cot. Spike was leaning against one of the support pillars looking like he didn't want to be there. Dawn was sitting on the washing machine with Dani leaning against it next to Dawn's dangling legs. Giles, Andrew, Willow and Faith were sitting at the wooden table, the scythe lying in the middle.

And Buffy was pacing the concrete floor, trying her hardest to ignore Faith. She wasn't mad, it was more that every time she looked at Faith she seemed to remember the conversation from earlier and her eyes would move towards Willow before she'd look away fully.

Buffy was adjusting.

And to her credit, Faith was leaving her alone to process everything and not make it any more difficult. Buffy wasn't beating her ass into the pavement for getting close to Willow, so Faith was going to do whatever was needed to keep it that way.

It stung a bit, seeing Buffy act like this, like the blonde had no idea how to comprehend that Faith and Willow had slept together. But in the back of her mind Faith knew Buffy was thinking the same things as she was. She was going to end up hurting Willow. This was all going to go horribly wrong and she was going to end up hurting Willow.

"What's the point of dreaming about spiders if you don't actually get to see any spiders?" Anya asked. "Xander, I don't understand."

Andrew added onto the thought, "How does that even work? How do you dream about spiders without seeing any? Did you not see them but know they were there? Was it your superhuman senses that could detect their presence? Did-"

"Andrew," Buffy barked. Her eyes landed on Faith again as she spoke, "Not now."

_Ouch. Was that directed at him or me?_

"Buffy?" Dawn asked, looking between the two Slayers as a frown grew on her face.

"Am I sensing some unresolved tension?" Xander asked in a teasing voice.

Faith didn't answer, and made sure not look at either Buffy or Willow. Buffy because she didn't want to address the tension any further and wanted to leave Buffy alone to deal with what she'd learned; Willow because she didn't want to drag the redhead into it.

'_Buffy just needs time to deal, Faith. This, this is probably a little confusing for her.' If you say so, Red._

"It's fine," Buffy said dismissively. She sighed and looked at Faith again, "It's…"

Giles looked thoughtful, "Did something, ah, tense happen during your-"

"It's fine. And no. We were all fine and dandy in this dream that revealed exactly nothing."

"So far all you told us was that there were giant missing spiders," Dawn said. "Are you actually going to tell us what happened or what? Faith?"

"We were at the school," the younger Slayer began. "It was cold and dark and deserted. We could hear voices…" She trailed off, looking at her sister Slayer.

"They sounded… they sounded young," Buffy started, pacing back and forth across the floor. "And they were screaming. And laughing."

"Oh, that sounds fun."

Buffy ignored Anya as she continued, "It sounded like…"

"Children," Faith filled in, remembering. "They were screaming and laughing and calling us. It was weird."

"This whole thing is sounding weird," Spike muttered, lighting a cigarette and pretending to ignore them.

"But you didn't see anyone?" Willow asked.

"No," Buffy shook her head. "We couldn't see anyone. But we could hear them. So we walked towards the sound. We knew we were going the right way; there was a wind pulling us in. And there was a really bright light at the end of the hallway, like, really bright, Wills. Mini-sun bright."

Dawn jumped in, "But there was a web in your way?"

"Yeah," the blonde continued, still pacing the floor, "It completely blocked the path. It was massive. But there was no massive spider to go with it." Her eyes flickered over to Willow, but the witch wasn't looking.

"And that's it?" Giles asked, shaking his head, "Your dream just ended when you reached the block?"

"No, we knew we had to go through it."

"More like we had nothin' better to do," Faith mumbled.

Buffy ignored her, "So we decided to go through. When we touched the web… pain. And then: end of dream. That was it. That was the whole thing. And we aren't leaving anything out."

Giles looked at them thoughtfully, "That's… a bit disappointing. And you can't make any sort of connections, reasons for what this could mean?"

"None," Buffy sighed. "I have no idea what the dream was supposed to mean. Nothing really happened."

"Buffy-"

"Really Giles. It wasn't like there were cryptic things to decipher. There was just… nothing. Nothing happened that means anything."

"Well it has to mean something, Buffy," Willow insisted gently.

"Start bit by bit," Dani offered.

"Whatcha mean, Dan?"

Dani smiled at her sister, "It all means something. Even the small things. Pick somewhere and start, the way you do with me."

Faith smirked, _And who said she's supposed to be in an institution? Girl's a genius._

"Well," Willow said, "Let's start with the main part, the spider web. Describe it."

Faith filled them in: big, silk, completely blocking of their path. "It was just like a regular spider web," she added, "Only bigger."

"Obviously the web is supposed to represent something," Giles said, eyes lighting up slightly. "What do spider webs symbolize?"

"Fear."

"Not the spider, Dawn, the web."

Dawn rolled her eyes at her sister, "You see the web you get scared because you know the spider's around somewhere."

"Somewhere to hold things," Willow continued, staring ahead of her as she focused, "Spiders catch their food there, but you could use a web to hold something. Like a net even."

"So we're supposed to catch something? We're supposed to catch the voices we were hearing?" Buffy prodded.

"No, no…" Giles took over, "Perhaps the bodies of the voices were being trapped in the web."

"But we couldn't see the bodies," Faith said flatly. Her leg began bouncing under the table, already bored with sitting still.

"Webs symbolize time," Dawn said casually. Before Buffy could even open her mouth to criticize she continued, "Not like, spider webs. But cobwebs? You find those in like, abandoned places. It means time's gone by." She began bumping her feet against the washing machine, "So… the voices you're hearing are long gone. Which would explain why they have no bodies."

"But who are they?" Buffy asked. Then she shook her head, "I don't think that's it. What else do webs represent? Besides nets and time?"

Faith found herself watching Willow chew on her lip rather than actually try of thinking of anything. The redhead was distracting, and Faith wasn't the best at the whole research-brainstorming thing.

"A blockade," Xander spoke up after a minute. He leaned back on his hands as he continued, "It represents the physical thing that's keeping them from finding the voices. There is some sort of actual thing that's in the way. Like a fence."

"So we have nets, time, and fences," Buffy went on, dropping into the chair across from Faith. "What else to webs represent?"

"Connections!" Willow burst out, "You draw a web to connect ideas. The web represents the connection you have with whatever's on the other side of the hallway. These voices. You're connected with them. But, going along with Xander's, there's a physical thing blocking you from them."

"So why are we on one side and they're on the other? Why is there a block?" Faith asked.

Willow pursed her lips for a moment, "It could be a bunch of things, really. I mean…" She trailed off, her lips silently moving as she continued talking to herself.

Giles picked up from Willow's silence, "You said the voices were screaming? Perhaps you're connected to them because they're people you need to save. People in danger of The First's power taking over."

Andrew scratched his head, "So who's most in danger of Firstie getting power? Obviously not those Bringers, maybe-"

"The Potentials," Buffy said evenly. "The voices," she looked over at Faith, "The voices sounded childlike, but feminine. Did you hear any that could have been boys?"

Faith thought for a moment and slowly shook her head.

"It makes the most sense," Buffy went on, standing up again to begin pacing. This time she picked up the scythe and began swinging it through the air in front of her as she walked. The girl clearly liked to think while on her feet. "Voices – people that Faith and I would be most connected with? That would be the Potentials."

"Which would be why they were on one side and you both were on the other," Anya added, yawning and resting her head on Xander's shoulder. "This is all so mundane," she muttered, "I'd rather be doing actual research then thinking about webs."

"She's right though," Dawn went on excitedly. "Buffy and Faith were on one side because they're actual Slayers. The voices were on the other because they're connected – by the web – but they aren't actual Slayers."

"Okay, but what was the _point_ of the dream," Buffy sighed. "We already know we're connected with the Potentials and that we need to protect them because The First is going after them…"

"What else happened?" Dani spoke up. She shifted her weight, so she was leaning against Dawn's legs and forcing them to still in their swinging.

Faith answered, "Nothing. We touched the web and the dream ended. So… we can't touch the Potentials?" After a moment she smirked.

"Naughty, Faith," Xander returned the look.

Willow smacked her arm, "Stop that."

"It was funny."

"How?" Dani asked, not getting distracted by her sister's innuendo. "How did it end?"

"We touched the web and everything hurt. And then the dream was over. That was it. Nothing like, jumped out at us or anything."

Dani nibbled her lip, watching Faith. The Slayer knew her sister was thinking hard. Of everyone in the room, Dani probably had the most experience with trying to understand dreams and visions. Given, she was usually caught in the middle of them and Faith was left to figure out what she was seeing. But she knew Dani wouldn't be asking the questions if she didn't think they were important.

"What did it feel like?" her sister asked after a moment.

"The pain? Um," she thought for a minute, "Kind of like my whole body was on fire. I don't-"

"Oh my God," Buffy suddenly burst out, stopping mid step. She spun around dramatically and locked eyes with Faith, waiting.

But she was waiting on a cancelled train, because Faith wasn't making whatever drastic connection the blonde was. "What?"

"What did it feel like?"

"B, I just said-"

"No, seriously. What did the pain feel like? Where have you felt it before?"

"I've felt it before?"

"Is there an echo in the room?" Spike mused.

Buffy ignored him completely. She continued to swing the scythe in a low arc as she asked, "When have you felt that pain before – like every cell in your body was exploding?" She was wearing a shit-eating grin. Clearly Buffy thought she'd just figured this all out.

Faith, however, had not.

"When have I felt pain like that? A few days ago actually, when an übervamp ripped my leg open right before it tried to eat me for dinner."

Buffy ignored her comment, "Faith, think."

"What am I thinking of?"

"The pain," Dani reminded helpfully, smiling.

Faith fought really hard not to scoff. This was her sister. Had it been anyone else, she would have.

She forced her bouncing leg to still as she focused; trying to think of a time she was in that much pain. She stayed quiet, watching the dull basement light reflect off the scythe's blade. It really was a piece of beauty. She and Buffy had had a few goes, trying it out. It was light in their hands but sharper than any weapon she'd ever held.

She watched as Buffy swung the blade again and it came to her. "My dream."

Buffy stopped and blinked at her, "Wait, what?"

"When we were in my dream," she paused, aware of everyone's eyes on her. "When we both touched the scythe. Everything exploded in pain, exactly like what happened when we touched the web."

"Huh. I wasn't thinking of that."

"You mean there was another time in my life I've been in that much pain? Are you sure? Because I think I'd remember."

"Faith," Buffy warned.

"Not even when you stabbed me, it didn't-"

"Faith."

"What?"

Buffy, surprisingly, didn't look like she was annoyed. She just looked like a kid in a candy shop, holding her hand out and waiting for Faith to join her. "Faith," she said slowly, "What other time in your life did it feel like your insides were on fire, like every cell inside you was exploding. Pain so intense that you thought you were going to die. Pain that hurt so much you wished you _were_ going to die just so it would end."

"What…"

_Oh._

_Oh, I get it._

"Oh."

"Yes," Buffy said, smiling.

"Um, hello?" Xander asked, waving a hand. "Help a guy out? The rest of us have no idea what you're talking about."

"When we were Called. It hurt like that when we were Called as Slayers."

Dawn looked alarmed, "It hurt? I didn't know it hurt."

"I was aware there was some discomfort, a quick burst that receded fairly quickly," Giles said, frowning, "I wasn't aware it was that painful."

Buffy looked a little nervous. Apparently she'd never talked about what it felt like to be Called with the Scoobies and Watcher-man. "Yeah, it… I thought someone had shot me."

"Stroke was my first though," Faith piped in. "Or that I was having a heart attack."

Willow looked back and forth between them, "It hurt that bad?"

"Like I was getting hit by a truck, shot, stabbed, cut in half and poisoned all at the same time," Faith elaborated lightly. "But only for a few seconds. It hurt and then it was gone. And then I felt stronger." She looked at Buffy, who nodded in confirmation. "I totally didn't believe it had just happened," Faith added, remembering, "that I had been Called."

"At least you had the pleasure of being aware of what the Slayer was before it happened. I was in the middle of gym class, playing volleyball."

"Oh my God, I remember that!" Dawn squealed, "They said you tripped and fell and had a concussion! I was mad because there was no blood!"

"Oh, thanks," Buffy made a face at her sister. "No, I was Called and _then_ I fell. Anyway," she continued, catching Giles' glare, "That's what the end of the dream felt like. Like being Called."

"So that's the difference," Giles confirmed, "You were separated by the web because you two have been Called and the Potentials haven't."

Buffy, however, didn't seem to agree. "But that's too… No, no, wait… hang on."

Xander smiled, "Buffy's hatching a thought."

"Isn't hatching usually associated with eggs?"

"Yes, Anya, it's an expression."

"Well it's a weird one."

"I agree," Andrew whined, "It's not exactly the greatest metap-"

"Shhh," Buffy insisted. "Wait, wait, hang on. What if… wait, wait."

"We're waiting, Buffy," Willow said encouragingly.

"Faith," she said after a moment, looking sharply at her from across the table. "Faith, what did the First Slayer say to us – to the dream me?"

"Helluva lot of things, B."

Buffy grumbled, "No. Specifically, what did she tell us? What did she and the old woman tell us?"

"Take hold of the power given to you," Faith recited.

"Wait, we're going back to the dreams from a few days ago now?" Andrew complained, "I thought we were talking about last night's dream."

"Keep up, Andy" Spike quipped at him.

"What did she say?" Buffy muttered, "What did she say? We need to understand the power we wield. The power we changed."

"The power _you_ changed," Faith corrected. "You died, I didn't. You changed the line."

"Okay, okay. I changed the power. Now we need to understand it? But I understand it. I'm a Slayer, I know what my power is."

"Maybe you're thinking to basically," Giles began. "Yes, you're a Slayer. But are your powers still the same? Did you feel different after you were brought back the first time?"

"Giles, that was years ago. I really don't remember. I had just died, and was focusing on killing The Master. I didn't really have time to make sure all the buttons worked and there were no new features."

"And it's not like Faith would know," Xander added, "Because her power's always been hers."

"So why would she say you don't understand your power?" Faith asked as Buffy sat down at the table for a second time, laying the scythe in front of her.

"What kind of power?" Dani asked.

"What?" Buffy looked confused. "What do you mean 'what kind of power?' I'm a Slayer. That's it."

"No, wait," Willow began, "she may have a point." The redhead flashed a smile at Dani before continuing, "When the First Slayer said you didn't understand your power, _was_she talking about your powers as a Slayer?"

Faith frowned, "What other powers would she have been talkin' about?"

"What were you talking about with her when she said this?"

Buffy closed her eyes, remembering, "We were talking about defeating The First. I was trying to get her to tell me how to defeat it. So, what? She was talking about this secret power we don't know about that will defeat The First? That's the power we don't understand."

Giles shook his head slightly and drummed his fingers on the table, "The scythe?"

"She didn't mention it."

"But she was holding it?"

"The scythe is just a weapon, it doesn't-"

"I thought you said it was magical?" Dawn spoke up.

Willow nodded, "It is. It's connected to the Sla-"

"Hold on," Buffy said, holding a finger in the air and cutting her off.

The blonde sat still for a moment, staring blankly ahead as she made some sort of connection. Faith suddenly had a strong urge to wave a hand in front of her face, just to see if she'd notice. Anya began humming the _Jeopardy_ theme song when Buffy didn't start talking again; Xander had to nudge her to make her stop.

"Well?" Spike eventually asked.

Again, Buffy only addressed her sister Slayer. "Faith, what did she tell us?"

"I thought we just did this."

Buffy shook her head. "Humor me, okay? What did she say? The power we have to stop the darkness – The First – can't be told. She couldn't tell us. She said we have to discover it. What did she say right after?"

"Um."

"It was about the power. She said it wasn't focused or understood. And something else. What was the other word?"

"B, you're asking the wrong girl. I'm not so good at regurgitating words."

Dawn smiled, "Which would be why you didn't finish high school."

"Can it, Baby Summers."

"Faith," Buffy insisted.

"B, I have no idea."

"It was a word. It started with… I think it started with a t."

"You think?" Andrew questioned. "That isn't a lot to go on. There are a lot of words that start with t."

Buffy ignored him. "T something. T something. Toned? Tracked? Tampered with?"

"Is this one word really that important?" Faith asked, but the look Buffy gave was answer enough. Yes. This word was very important.

"Talented?" Buffy continued, "Taken? Or tainted? Targeted? Was it targeted? It could have been that."

"Our power isn't targeted?"

"Toasted?" Anya offered.

Andrew added, "Teleported?"

"I don't think that's the direction we're looking in," Giles scolded, looking at them disapprovingly.

Faith's eyes roamed the room as people began offering words to the blonde. Buffy just kept shaking her head, not liking any of the suggestions. Faith tried remembering, but she had no idea what the word was. She could describe what the First Slayer looked like, but couldn't recite word-for-word what she'd told them.

"Tested?" Dawn offered.

"Trained?" Dani asked seconds later.

"That one! She said our power wasn't… trained. Power. Trained. Oh, wait." This seemed to be Buffy's new favourite word, telling them all to hold on as she figured things out.

"Buffy," Spike grumbled, "If you're going to keep doing this, the least you could do this think out loud, so the rest of us have a bloody clue what it is we're supposed to be waiting for."

"I don't understand the power I changed," Buffy began slowly. "It isn't trained. This power, that I – made, the power I made, changed, whatever. We don't understand it because we aren't looking in the right spot. It needs to be trained. She told me to 'be aware of those around me.' And then something about being aware of what has changed…" she dropped off, struggling.

Faith picked up, "Something like what's changed through the line because you walk. I remember that, the way she worded it was really weird."

"That's it, that has to be it."

"Buffy," Willow said softly.

"Hear me out, okay? What's the power Slayers have that isn't trained?" She was looking at Faith as she asked this.

"No idea."

"The Potentials."

Andrew moaned, "We're back to them again? We're just going in circles."

"What's changed because I still walk, because I didn't die? The line. The Slayer Line. If it weren't for me dying, Faith wouldn't be a Slayer."

"Thanks for that, by the way. The dying thing. Appreciate it."

Buffy continued as if the brunette hadn't interrupted her, "Instead of one, there's two. I changed the line. I change the power I wield. But I haven't taken hold of all the power I have. The Potentials."

"But we're trying to gather as many of the girls as we can," Giles pressed. "Having them all here is only proving to be more irksome than useful at this point."

Buffy shook her head, still looking at Faith but addressing Giles and the rest of the room, "Because we haven't accessed their power, we haven't trained them."

"B, what the hell have we been doing if we haven't been training them?"

"Not training physically to hold a weapon, training them in the sense that we haven't prepared them. The reason we could hear them in the dream, on the other side of the web. Because they aren't trained properly yet. The web, the web… they're on the other side of the web because they aren't Slayers. They aren't ready yet. And the web…"

Buffy suddenly looked over at Willow, "Connections. You said the web can mean connections. Faith and I are connected to the other girls, because we're Slayers and they're Potential Slayers, right? The connection isn't as strong between us and them as it is between Faith and I; which is why we could see each other but we could only hear them."

The whole room had fallen eerily silent, listening. It was like Buffy was the only one with the translation key. She was the only one making everything fit into place. Faith felt a little intimidated, but didn't want to interrupt the other girl.

"What do we have to do to be able to see them?" she asked.

Dani broke the silence, "Bring them to the other side."

Buffy smiled ridiculously wide, "Exactly."

"But, wait, B," Faith started. She glanced around the room before she continued, seeing multiple frowning faces. Clearly everyone was having the same line of thoughts as her. "Wouldn't that mean…?"

"Exactly," the blonde repeated, jumping to her feet. "We need to turn the Potentials into Slayers. That's how we defeat The First."


	59. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

_We need to turn the Potentials into Slayers._

_Turn them into Slayers._

_Potentials into Slayers._

_Oh boy._

"B-Buffy… how…?" Willow was at a loss for words.

Pretty much everyone in the room was at a loss for words, if their facial expressions were any indication of how they were feeling.

"What exactly are we talking about here?" Xander asked, his voice completely serious. "You plan on us poppin' you and Faith with a few bullets, wait till you kick it, bring you back, and then do it all again?"

"Hey," Faith spoke up from where she was sitting next to Willow, directly across from Buffy, "I'm objecting to that."

Giles was staring at Buffy, just staring. "Buffy, you can't be serious."

"Completely serious."

The room descended back into silence, everyone taking in the blonde girl's words. There was no hint of a smile on Buffy's face. Her eyes were alight with her apparent excitement, but she wasn't kidding. She was sure this was the way.

After a long moment Dawn finally asked, "Buffy how… how are you…?"

"It's all about the connections. The web, the girls, being Slayers. The connection they have with Faith and I."

"But how are you-"

"Oh," Willow said quietly. Her eyes wavered from the blonde to the scythe lying on the table, already seeing the basics of Buffy's plan.

"Right?" Buffy asked her, actually looking excited.

"Buffy… we can't…"

"Can't what, Willow?" Xander asked. "Buffy, what's going on?"

"The scythe," Buffy explained, "It's connected to Faith and I. It's connected to all the Slayers. And Faith and I are connected to the girls. We can use it somehow to Call them as Slayers. We change the rules. Our power becomes their power. We use the natural magical connection that runs through us and blast it with the power of the scythe to Call everyone in line as Slayers. We make them all strong, and we fight, and we win."

"That's the plan?" Anya asked, her face pale.

"That's the plan. What do you think?"

Xander spoke first, "That depends. Are you in any way… kidding?"

* * *

_I'm going to have to do this. Me… I'm going to… but… me… and the magic… and…_

Willow staggered up the stairs of the basement and immediately sagged into the closest kitchen chair. The others followed, stepping into the kitchen and disappearing into the rest of the house. Willow didn't know where they were all going. Research, training, sleeping, cooking, it didn't matter.

_I'm the one that's going to have to pull this off._

_It's magic. All magic._

_So much magic._

Cool hands came down to rest on her shoulders, pressing reassuringly. Fingers squeezed. Then they gripped and tugged upwards, drawing Willow out of her seat. The redhead followed absentmindedly, letting the hands find hers and lead her away from the kitchen. She didn't know where she was going; she just followed.

She felt like she was on a cloud. Drifting along. Nothing to hold her down besides the hand attached to hers.

"Breath, Red," Faith's voice came from somewhere near.

Willow blinked. She was sitting on her bed. Faith was crouching on the floor in front of her looking worried.

"Faith."

"Hey. Nice of you to join me."

"Faith, I-"

"Just relax a minute, okay? You're so pale it's making me nervous."

"What?"

"You're white as a sheet, Will."

"Oh."

Faith chuckled forcibly, "Yeah. Now just take a few deep breaths for me, okay?"

Willow blinked a few times before Faith's request registered a meaning for her. Then she nodded and sat still.

The brunette sighed, squeezing the witch's hands, "Close your eyes and breathe deep for me, yeah? Like you would when you meditate."

Oh. That kind of breathing. Willow gave a small smile and closed her eyes. She felt everything still around her as she followed Faith's breathing, letting it guide her to her calm. Faith's body was still, she wasn't fidgeting like she usually did. She stayed perfectly quiet as she crouched in front of Willow, letting her own tranquil state seep into the witch.

After a few long moments Willow's eyes flickered open again. "Hey," she said sheepishly.

"Hey."

"Thanks."

Faith nodded.

"How do you do that?"

Faith looked surprised, "Do what?"

"The breathing thing. Where did you learn that? You didn't used to be so inner-calm."

"Lotta free time in prison."

"Ah."

Faith squeezed her hands, "You back?"

"Yes," she said firmly. "Sorry, I just kind of…" she trailed off, waving her hands in front of her face as a gesture to explain how out of it she had been; all over the place.

"Yeah. The minute you figured out what B was planning all the colour drained from your face; and it stayed that way."

"Faith, she-"

"I know."

"I know you do, but she…" Willow sighed heavily and slid off the bed and onto the floor, resting so her body was lightly pressing against the Slayer's. "It's like she doesn't. Buffy doesn't get it, what she's asking me to do."

Faith looked down at her, studying the redhead's face. "And what is she asking you to do?" she questioned, her voice even. She was giving Willow the opportunity to let it all pour out, all her fears about what Buffy had just explained needed to happen, without the blonde hearing.

Willow started off gently, her voice monotone, "Using the scythe as a pathway to push the power of the Slayer from you two into the girls? An iffy idea at best. In theory. We have no idea how it will happen, _what _exactly will happen, and just how difficult it will be. Yes, you two have a connection between each other and between the girls, and the scythe has a connection with you and its own magical power." The speed of Willow's words began picking up the longer she spoke, getting herself more and more anxious. "But using it as a conduit to spider-web that power into the girls? It's a whole world of 'it _could_ work in theory, if we disregard the consequences altogether.'"

She was on a roll and was not stopping now, her panic-induced word vomit was spilling from her lips without her control. "But that's if we're talking about a seriously experienced witch; one of the most practiced members of the Coven I stayed at. Someone who has complete control of their power and confidence in their wielding."

Willow blew out a puff of air and dropped her head to rest it on Faith's shoulder. "But me? Buffy wants _me_ to wield that much magic without even a clue of what will happen? So many things could go wrong, Faith. Not only do we not know if this will even work, but we have no idea what it entails. There are so many variables she isn't even considering."

"B's always been like that," Faith said gently, "As far as I can remember. Planning things are all fine and dandy for her, but she has no problems jumping in head first."

Willow's hands moved to play with the hem of her shirt, "And if this were just another demon? If this were another one of her spur-of-the-moment this-will-stop-the-apocalypse plans? I'd be all for it. But this isn't just picking up a weapon and stabbing a big bad in its weak spot. She's not thinking about this from a magical stand-point, the consequences it could have."

"It's a lot of power?"

Nodding, Willow continued, "It is. It's a lot of power for a novice and un-centered witch like me. It is a lot of power to try and control. But more than that, it's about the magical backlash from using that much power. This isn't just picking up a spell book, saying a few words, and waiting to see what will happen.

"This is about taking raw power and forcing it to do something it isn't going to want to do. If I push, it's going to push back harder. And Faith, I don't think I can handle that."

The redhead chanced a look at Faith, trying to read her expression. Faith's face was blank. She was looking at Willow, simply looking, and letting the witch unearth everything going on inside her head without judgement.

Willow looked away as she spoke again, "Maybe, _maybe_ I could have done this a year or two ago. Maybe. But now? Goddess, Faith, there's no telling what will happen. Draining my reserves that far, pushing myself past the darkest place I've ever gone? I'm so close to the breaking point already. And having me try to wield that much magic? I'm going to go so far off the edge that last year will look like a church bake sale."

"That bad?" Faith asked quietly.

Willow nodded and pressed her face into the brunette's shoulder, mumbling, "It's like she forgets what happened last year. What _I_ did. What I did _to them._ I can hardly handle my magic right now as it is. But Buffy asking me to do this? It's like she really doesn't realize how close I am to completely losing control and killing everyone around me each time I use my magic. She's forgotten what happened last year. She forgot that I lost control and nearly killed her because I got so lost in the darkness inside of me."

That was what it came down to. Willow knew just how dangerous this was for her, but it was like no one else did. No one else recognized how honest to God dangerous this plan was for Willow. No one understood that every time she used her magic there was a pull to let go, to let the darkness take over. She could fight back before. But now, with this? The pull to give in would be so strong. And no one cared. No one cared that, if they went through with this, Willow would end up destroying them all before they even reached The First.

None of the Scoobies remembered just how bad it was last year. They were so distracted with what was going on right now they couldn't see that they were on a fast-track to reliving last year. Only ten times worse.

"How can she ask me to do this?" Willow asked weakly, realizing with a start that she was crying.

Faith draped a comforting arm around the redhead, giving a gentle squeeze. Willow turned, burying her whole body into the other's girl's side. Faith was safe and warm and comforting and the only thing she could hold on to at this point. Faith was the only one realizing how scared Willow was.

Her tears fell silently, dampening Faith's shirt as she pressed further and further into the brunette's body. Faith's body was stiff for a moment, unsure of what to do, but eventually she relaxed and simply held Willow as she trembled.

"She believes in you," Faith whispered. "We all do. I get how dangerous this is, and Buffy probably does too. But she can't think about how scary it is, she has to be brave for everyone, right? She's the general. Isn't that what they do? Put on brave faces?

"She probably needs you to do that too. Put on a brave face for the girlies. And I think Buffy really does believe you can do this; without the losing control thing."

"But Faith," Willow whispered, lifting her head, "It's just so much power."

"I've never seen you lose control since I've been here," the brunette answered nonchalantly. "You worked the mojo on the cop when we drove in. You had the glamour for me and Dani on the plane – twice, once there and once back. You blasted that boar demon. And you put up the ward around the house. And got B and I all Slayer dreamin' just fine."

"I almost blew up the house while you were asleep," Willow muttered in reply, looking down.

Faith bumped shoulder's with the witch, waiting until Willow looked at her before she spoke, "Minor set-back. And you _didn't_ lose control, you almost did. You stopped yourself before it happened, right?"

"I passed out."

"I'm tryin' to be helpful here, but you keep shooting me down."

"Sorry," she sighed heavily. "I'm just really worried that this is a bad idea."

"So stop worrying."

_She says that like I have a choice, like I can physically just put up a wall and have all these panicky feelings go away. I can't do that. I can't calm down. Not right now._

That was the only problem with Faith; that they were so different. They both bottled things up, but whereas Faith bottled things up and pushed them away and ignored them, Willow bottled things up and they bubbled and stewed and broke through the cork in an eruption of panic at the worst times.

"I can't just stop worrying. I'm anxious and nervous and more than a little freaked. I can't just stop."

Faith stayed quiet for a long moment. Willow was pretty sure the conversation was done, that she had won, when Faith finally spoke up again. "Well," she began, looking ahead of her at the closed door. "When you get all freaked out, what do you do to calm down? When you can't just shove it all down for a few hours, what do you do to relax?"

Just from the tone of her voice Willow could tell the Slayer was looking for a particular answer.

"Meditate."

Faith turned to look at her, blinking expectantly.

"It won't be enough," she insisted, getting to her feet. She turned and tugged Faith up too, pulling on the girls arms until she was standing upright. Then she let go of the other girl and began pacing the room while she thought out loud. "I can meditate to calm down. But I need more than that this time. I need… I need to re-center almost, to prepare myself for what Buffy's asking me to do. Just meditating wouldn't be enough to get all these scary thoughts out of my head. Thoughts about how bad this will be, how I could get everyone killed, thoughts-"

"I get it," Faith cut in, leaning against the bed.

"Sorry," Willow replied, frowning sadly.

She stopped pacing, standing in the middle of the room and feeling lost. Everything inside her head was just a soupy mixture of fear and nerves. How could Buffy expect her to do this? How could Faith be so relaxed about this? How was she supposed to calm down right now, did no one realize what Buffy was proposing they do? How dangerous it would be?

Faith was still leaning back against the bed. Willow looked at her, taking in everything written on the other girl's face. Her body language said she was trying to be casual, but her lips were pulled tight and there was a slight crease in her brow. Faith had thought of something, but wasn't sure how to vocalize it.

"What?" Willow asked gently.

Faith shook her head, "Nothin'. I'm just… thinking."

Willow waited, but the longer the other girl held still the more nervous and fidgety Willow became. If Faith was afraid to say whatever she was thinking, then it had to be bad. Faith was never afraid to speak her mind, it was just who she was.

After a long moment, Faith shuffled, moving to sit fully on the bed and beckoning Willow to join her. The witch sat down hesitantly, crossing her legs so her knees touched Faith's, then she waited for the other girl to speak.

"I need you to answer this honestly, okay?"

Willow felt something uncomfortable shift inside her, not liking the uncertainty in Faith's voice, but she forced herself to nod. "Okay."

"Before… before last year," Faith said vaguely, but Willow knew what she was referring to, "When your magic wasn't so intense, how would you re-center?"

"I never really had to," Willow replied honestly. "When I was still learning, I had never really done anything so powerful that it upset the balance inside me. The only time I've really had to re-center my magic was when I was at the Coven, but I had help there, teaching me control and helping me not to hurt anyone."

"Okay," Faith said slowly. "But you still used to meditate, right?"

Willow nodded, "Yeah. After learning something new, pushing myself a little farther, I'd need to rest to let all the power inside settle."

"And where would you… where did you feel safest when you meditated?"

"You're looking for a certain answer, aren't you?"

"Just answer honestly. Where did you used to feel safest to practice your magic?"

Willow looked down at her lap for a long moment, thinking. The place she used to feel the safest when she was casting? Where she knew she'd be protected and not judged? She knew the answer to that, but was hesitant to say anything.

"Be honest, Red."

"But-"

"It's okay," the Slayer said gently, "You can say her name."

Willow quickly lifted her eyes to meet Faith's before ducking her head down again, "With Tara. In…. in her dorm room. That was where… that was where I learned a lot, where we'd practice when we had just met. I felt, I felt safe there. I always did."

"Then maybe that's your answer," Faith said, bumping her knees against Willow's to get her to look up again.

"You…" Willow began slowly, looking at Faith with a confused expression. "You want me to break into Tara's old dorm so I can center myself? Faith, I don't think that-"

"No. I think you should go see Tara." Willow reeled for a moment, body tightening and eyes widening in surprise at Faith's words. "She taught you a lot," Faith pressed on, "Made you feel safe. It might be good to go see her before our big day tomorrow."

It might be good to go see her, since they didn't know what tomorrow had in store. They didn't know if they'd make it through this fight alive. Faith's unspoken words of _it might be good to see her one last time_ were left hanging in the air.

"Faith…"

Willow let herself entertain the idea for a moment, going to see Tara, to see her gravesite. To see and talk with the other witch again. She knew Faith was right; this would help her. Seeing Tara again, asking her for help and advice and strength to get through the next twenty-four hours, it would be good for her. Going to Tara's gravesite would help ground her and her magic, center and calm her for what she needed to do.

But, "Faith, Faith I can't…"

"I know she meant a lot to you, Red. I'm not sayin' you have to, just suggesting the idea. It might be good for you."

"I…"

Faith sat quietly, waiting for her to decide. She wanted to go, but, "I don't want to go alone."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I…" she shook her head, unsure how to explain herself. She had gone back and visited Tara since she'd come back from England, but, this time was different. This wasn't for the same reason, a painful visit, a need to be alone from everyone at the house. She had explained to Tara what had happened, how she'd lost control, and she'd begged for Tara's forgiveness, promising to get better.

This was going and telling Tara that she hadn't kept her promise, that she was afraid she was going to lose control again.

"Do you want me to ask Buffy? Or Xander?" Faith asked.

"Would… would you come with me?"

She watched as Faith's face changed, going from gentle and patient to surprised and a little intimidated. She leaned back a little on the bed, eyes trained on Willow, waiting to see if this was some kind of joke. Her eyes were wide and nervous, clearly not expecting Willow to ask her to join her.

"Shit, Red."

"I think it…"

"Willow, that isn't really my place."

And so started the babble, "I'd like you to meet her. I want you to know that she isn't some big scary elephant in the room; that I loved her, but she isn't here anymore. And I think she'd want to meet you. I'd like her to know that I'm doing okay now. That I'm still hurting that she… but that I'm okay, that I'm… that I'm happy."

Faith regarded her for a long moment, watching her face, making her decision. Willow waited silently, hoping Faith would say yes, but preparing herself not to beg if Faith said no.

It wasn't like this was an easy question. _Do you want to come and meet the girl I used to be in love with? Think about what you're asking her, Willow. You're asking her to go to the gravesite of the girl whose death caused you to nearly destroy the world. That can't be a good feeling._

"If you really want me to, then yeah, I'll go."


	60. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

Faith hung back a few steps as she and Willow parted, Willow walking towards the headstone in front of them with Tara's name engraved on it. Faith had agreed to come, it was clear that this was something important to Willow, but she didn't really know what the rules were about meeting your current lover's dead lover.

It was late in the afternoon, the sun hanging low in the sky. Faith and Buffy had worked with the Potentials most of the day, keeping up with the regular training session after the Scooby meeting in the basement had thrown Willow into a silent tailspin.

Willow approached the headstone and sunk to her knees, sitting down on the grass and reaching out to touch the stone in front of her. Faith heard her murmur a hello, and realized she was standing a little too close. This was a moment for Willow, Faith didn't want to intrude on the witch's privacy.

Turning, Faith walked a few dozen steps away. She stayed close enough to see Willow, to watch in case anything bad – such as Willow breaking down and needing comfort – happened, but far enough away that she couldn't hear the other girl's words.

Faith shuffled her feet against the grass, looking around the rest of the cemetery. There were other headstones of different sizes scattered along the grass. Some of the gravesites had old and weathered bouquets of flowers lying before them, but nothing looked recent; everyone had left town by now.

There were big shady trees, and a stone pathway winding around the grounds. It was well kept, Faith realized. She had assumed all cemeteries were well and creepy, even during the day. But it looked different in the sunlight, nothing looked quite so haunting or menacing.

She wondered if this place was part of Buffy's regular patrol; if she and the blonde had taken some of the Potentials here. It seemed weird, seeing it in the daylight, knowing Tara was resting there when vampires tromped around and damaged it at night.

"This is so messed up," Faith muttered to herself, eyes landing on Willow and watching her talk with Tara. She knew that if it weren't for Tara dying, for losing control, then she probably wouldn't be here. Willow would have come to L.A., helped Angel get his soul back, and then left. She wouldn't have seemed so scared, worried about The First. She wouldn't have been so depressed, about Tara and about drowning herself in her guilt for what had happened.

Even if she had convinced Faith to come back to Sunnydale to help out, she and Tara would still be together. That talk over burgers and fries – _damn, was that only just over a week ago? It seems like it happened ages ago_ – would have gone differently.

She wouldn't be in this position, slowly developing feelings for the redhead, if it weren't for Tara's death.

"You shouldn't be there, ya know?" she said out loud, somehow finding herself talking to Tara like Willow was only a few feet away. "You were on our side, one of the fighters. You deserved to go out in glory, a champion, not have your dignity stripped away as you died because some idiot couldn't fire a gun. We kill demons, you worked magic. That wasn't a fair way for you to go."

She kicked her boot into the ground a little bit, digging up some of the dirt below the grass. Faith felt weird, trying to talk with Tara like this. It felt like the right thing to do, since Tara meant so much to Willow, but it still felt like she was overstepping somehow. Like Tara was Willow's private thing to mourn, like talking with her made what Willow was doing a few feet away of less value.

It felt like she was doing something right, but at the same time, didn't know if she was doing it properly.

She felt the breeze pick up a little, scattering the blades of grass she'd uprooted. Shaking her head to herself, Faith continued, "I'm sorry you're gone. I'm sorry that Willow went through so much shit because of it. You know she broke apart, right? And I don't mean the dark magic thing, I mean after. In England, and then when she came back here. When she was healed enough to somewhat control her power, when she had real time to grieve over you. I think that's when she broke apart the hardest, when she had time to really understand that you were gone.

"She talked about it to me a little, about how much pain she was in because you died. I've only ever had a few people that were close to me die like that, so suddenly. My brother. He was only a few hours old, but he… I didn't really get to know him even, hadn't had time to love him really…" Faith sighed out loud. Even though Tara wasn't physically in front of her, able to see and hear her, it was still difficult. She had only ever talked to Dani about the baby, her mother doing her best to wipe the memory of the pregnancy from their minds. She had never told the social workers about him, not even Diana. "But he was still family, and he was taken from me.

"The only other person I've seen die was my Watcher, Diana. I… I let her down, let her get killed by that… that thing." She shivered, unable to speak the name of the evil that killed the only adult she truly trusted with her life. "She believed in me and…"

The breeze around her slowed, the air stilling. She looked out at the cemetery again, eyes sliding over every stone she could see. "I wasn't there when my mom died, they wouldn't let us see her. And I don't think… I think I was so mad at her that it never really hit me the same way as, as when Diana died. It didn't hurt, not like that.

"Wilkins died too," she said quietly, hesitantly. "I don't… I can't explain it, what he saw in me, why he picked me. But he cared about me, and he's gone too.

"I know the pain Willow was in, T," Faith went on, pushing the thoughts of the death she had experienced down. "I know what that kind of pain feels like. But… she had it so much worse. She lost you; the most important person in her life. She loved you more than anything else and she lost you."

It burned a little inside her, knowing how much Willow had loved Tara; knowing how much Willow still loved Tara, even though she was gone. Faith would never claim to be an expert on love. She had never been that girl. Aside from Dani, the only people in her life that she had loved in some way were gone. And she had never known romantic love, not the way the people around her seemed to. But it stung, little pinches of pain inside, knowing how much Willow had loved Tara; knowing Willow may have feelings for her, may someday love her if she didn't fuck things up before then, but Willow would never love her the way she had loved Tara.

Her eyes found Willow again, sitting on the grass, legs curled to one side, head tucked down as she had her own moment with Tara. Her rich hair stood out, a little tousled from the breeze. Her body was curled in on itself, her whole self totally focused on the headstone before her.

Willow was unlike anyone Faith had ever known, really. And even if Willow could never truly love her like she had Tara, Willow still clearly felt something, and that was worth defending, worth explaining so Tara would understand.

"You can't blame her for losing control, for slipping over into the dark side. Willow's strong T, but I know how she felt about you was a weakness, it made her vulnerable." She didn't know how well Willow had explained to the other witch what had happened to her, but Faith wanted to be sure Tara understood. "Don't be upset for her, that she got lost inside herself. It shows how much she loved you, still loves you."

Faith shifted back and forth of her feet, body growing antsy with standing still for so long even if her mind was at peace. She spotted a tree a little ways away and made her way over to it, opting to lean against its strong trunk. She could still see Willow from where she was, but it felt different here, under the shade instead of out in the sunlight.

She thought she was finished speaking, simply content to wait for Willow, but she felt something unfinished nagging inside her.

"I apologized to her, but I should probably apologize to you too," she said, her words thicker than she had expected them to be. She did still feel guilty for this, years later, now that she knew Tara was gone. "I don't know if you remember, it was a long time ago, and I was wearin' a different body.

"I said some mean things to you, when Willow tried to introduce you at the Bronze – she thought I was Buffy." The memory of the body-swap was not a happy one, not for anyone involved.

"I… I was messed up then. Kind of… kind of like how Willow got for a little while, I guess. Not the same exactly, but toying with the darkness and then not being able to step back. Getting sucked into something you can't control. I was messed up, broken, and was only looking to cause B pain.

"But I shouldn't have been so rude to you. I know you were probably scared, getting to meet Willow's friends for the first time, me bein' a bitch to you probably didn't help. I am sorry though. You didn't deserve that."

Faith had picked up on it right away; the way the two girls were attuned to each other, their eyes always finding the others', the way their bodies hovered too close. It had been plain to Faith, that Willow was introducing Tara to Buffy to test Buffy's reaction. She and Tara weren't together yet, but it was easy enough for Faith to see the attraction. And then stomp on it.

God, she was such an ass back then.

She was still an ass now, really.

"I hear you were pretty quiet and shy, that it took a long time for you to build up some confidence when you were with a group of people. From what I remember," Faith said, thinking back to the night at the Bronze, to the few minutes she'd spent alone with Tara, "you were pretty timid. But you should know T, Willow learned her strength from you."

She tipped her head back against the bark of the tree, looking up at the branches as she spoke, wondering if Tara really could hear her, or if she was wasting her breath.

It didn't really matter though, whether Tara could hear her or not. It felt right to Faith to be talking like this. To address Willow's ex, and try to explain her feelings to someone who would listen. She was new at this, the feelings for someone thing, and it felt good having someone listen and not judge, having someone to help her think her way through everything.

"When I met her, she was still in high school. Bit of a nerd, shy, good with computers and datin' a werewolf. She had only just started drabbling in the magic thing. But she was quiet. She was intimidated and put off by me, how confident and carefree I was. Red was reserved, a good girl and I…" she smiled, "I wasn't."

Her eyes found Willow's figure again as she continued, a soft smile in her words, "But she's grown a lot since then. She's become more confidence and sure of herself. She's still nervous about her magic, yeah, but that's not because she doesn't think she has it in her, it's just 'cause she's scared she'll lose control again. But she's a new girl now. And it was because of you. Be proud of her.

"You may have been shy, but you taught her things, T. I knew Willow before she met you, and I'm seeing her now, after you're gone, and she's changed. You helped her. She had to learn her confidence from somewhere. She'd been around Buffy and Xander for years and was still shy and timid, then you came along."

She barked out a bit of a laugh, "I never finished high school, and I fuckin' hated math. But that equation looks pretty simple to me.

"She loved you, I know she did. She's afraid to talk about it now, because you're gone and I'm here, and she doesn't want to mess things up, but she loved you. You must have been a helluva girl, Tara, to win her heart so easily. You can hear the love in her voice when she talks about you, see the love in her eyes when she thinks about you, even if it hurts her because you aren't here anymore.

"I don't know how she can feel… anything for someone like me, when she had such pure love with you. I'm so different from you, T. I don't know what she can see in me, to think I'm worthy of being loved like that."

She toed her boot into the ground again, turning the tip back and forth, digging a small hole in the dirt. She kept her eyes down as she continued, feeling hesitant to finish her words. "I don't think I am, deserving I mean. I did some pretty messed up, shitty things in my life. I don't think I deserve getting to feel even a sliver of what you felt when you were with her.

"I'll take care of her for you though. I'm still afraid I'll hurt her, that I'm not made for this and that we're on a train headed to disaster, but I'll try for you. I'll keep her safe. We've got a big fight tomorrow, the biggest fight against evil the Scoobies have ever had. But I'll do my best to keep her safe. I promise you I'll protect her."

Faith's words were sincere. No matter what happened tomorrow, she'd keep Willow safe.

"I know it may not seem like it, considering what I've done, but I am good at protecting people. I've got a sister, kinda like how B's got Dawn. I've always had to protect her, to keep her safe and make sure nothing happens to her. I've messed up a few times, put her in danger and let her get taken away from me for a while, but I never stopped thinkin' about her, never stopped protecting her. I'll do that with Willow, for you, since you aren't here to help her anymore.

"I'm no you, Tara. I never will be. But I'll do my best for her, okay? We'll make a deal. You pull some strings up there, wherever you are, and try and tip the odds in our favour for tomorrow. And I'll protect Red for you, I'll make sure nothing bad happens to her."

She focused on Willow again, watching as the girl lifted her head from where she'd had it bowed to glance around herself. After a moment she turned right around where she sat, head searching this way and that until she spotted Faith. Her hand raised, beckoning Faith to her.

The wind picked up again, shifting the tree Faith stood under. It was a stronger gust this time, making the leaves rattle loudly above her head. Faith paused a moment, waiting until the air stilled once more, before making her way back to the redhead.

"Hey," she said as she drew closer.

"Hey yourself," Willow said, taking Faith's offered hands to pull herself up. Her eyes and cheeks were red, but her voice was soft and content.

"How do you feel?" Faith asked carefully.

Willow sighed easily, leaning into Faith's side as they began walking. Faith stiffened for a moment before relaxing and leading Willow back along the stone path. "I'm… still shaky. But… but that was a good idea, it helped, seeing her." She tiled her head up at Faith, "Thank you."

"No problem, Red."

"No," Willow insisted, squeezing Faith a little bit. "I get that that was probably… awkward for you, but it helped. She… she set me right again, helped me center my power. Thank you."

"Awkward?" Faith smirked, "What are you talking about, awkward? T and I get on just great now."

The witch gave her a skeptical look, "Oh really?"

"Mmm."

"You talked with her too?"

Faith nodded.

"What… what did you talk about?"

Faith pulled away from Willow to stand in front of her, walking backwards and smirking happily, "How awesome my boobs are."

"Faith!" Willow shrieked, lunging forward and trying to slap at her. "No you didn't!"

"Totally did, T's really into them."

"You are so full of yourself, you know that?"

"Hey, I don't hear _you_ disagreein'."


	61. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

The sun was just dipping down in the sky when they got back to the house. Andrew, who had somehow become their resident cook, had saved them some of the dinner he'd made.

"It's our last supper, so I-"

"Stop making biblical references to death," Anya scolded from her seat at the counter.

"Our final dinner before the big day tomorrow," Andrew amended. "So I made the last of all the frozen pizzas. But since you two were out I figured Faith would pummel me if I didn't save you any."

"Right you are, Andy," Faith replied, scooping up two slices and digging in right away.

Willow rolled her eyes, "If this is our last supper you could at least have table manners."

Faith turned to give her a bored look, "If this is our last supper, I'm allowed to be as uncivilized as I want, thanks." She winked.

Willow made an exasperated noise and bit into her own pizza slice.

"Can we please stop calling it our last supper?" Anya continued. "For one, the Potentials don't know yet; Buffy wanted to wait until you two got back before explaining everything. Two, it is making me upset thinking about how we're all going to die tomorrow."

"Relax, Blondie. No one's dying tomorrow."

"Really," Anya said skeptically.

"Faith's right," Buffy said, entering the room. She leaned against the door frame as she continued. "As far as I'm concerned, no one's dying, not if I can help it."

Anya snorted, "Your plan for success relies an awful lot on a girl who can't so much as float a pencil anymore without seeing black."

"Hey!" Faith and Buffy bit out at the same time.

"What? I'm being honest." She turned to the redhead, "Willow, you're powerful, but your magic makes everyone in this house nervous, how can we-"

"Watch it, Blondie, or you're gonna be wearing my leftovers."

"Faith," Willow said sternly, "It's okay." She addressed Anya, "Look, I know not everyone has the same confidence in me that Buffy does, and you have every right to be scared, but don't let it get the better of you. Buffy's right, we have to stay positive. We have to believe in the plan and believe that no one is going to get hurt."

"There's always casualties in war," Andrew muttered.

Buffy rounded on him, pushing off roughly from the wall, "If you want to be the casualty," she looked between him and Anya, "Both of you, if you two want to be the ones we lose, then by all means, stand in front of The First when it attacks us; cheer for it, egg it on." Her face softened slightly as she continued, her voice losing some of its edge, "But if you want to live and have a fighting chance, then you have to believe in every single person in this house, alright? All of us are here to fight this war. All of us.

"You want to convince me that people are going to die? Don't you think I'm aware of that? I _know_ people are going to die, people have _already_ died, but I can't focus on that right now. Right now, I, we, all of us, have to focus on doing everything we can to stop The First. Tomorrow, we all have to be in on this, and we all have to be willing to do whatever it takes."

"Well that was moving."

Buffy whirled around, everyone in the room turning at the sound of Kennedy's voice. She, Molly and Xander stood in the other doorway, watching the scene in the kitchen unfold.

Xander smiled fondly, "Buffy gets like that, all motivational when there's a big fight coming up. In case you hadn't already noticed."

"What were you talking about?" Molly asked, sounding worried. "Tomorrow? What's happening tomorrow?"

Buffy swayed a little bit, face flushing and then going pale. "Ah…"

Xander took over, "We may as well tell them, Buff. We've been strategizing all afternoon, Giles and I finalized the details you came up with."

"Does this have anything to do with why I had to lead the training session later this afternoon?" Kennedy asked bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Buffy smiled, "That was partly because Faith disappeared." She turned, giving a pointed look at her sister Slayer, before looking back at Kennedy. "Otherwise she and I would have continued trading back and forth while one of us was in here planning."

"So, yes," Kennedy summarized.

"Yes," Buffy agreed, nodding her head. "Yes."

"I still don't understand what's going on," Molly continued.

Xander smiled, "Faith and Willow are back, and everyone's all good and fed now. Want us to round up everyone for a house meeting?"

"That would be great," Buffy said gratefully.

Once Xander had left the room, dragging Kennedy and Molly with him, Buffy turned back to Anya and Andrew. "Look," she said, keeping her voice light, "I didn't mean to snap at you two, but you're both considered part of the Scoobies, okay?"

Willow tried not to laugh at the look of pride on Andrew's face.

"You're part of the adults, the leaders; the girls look up to you. I need you both onboard. No more death and dying crap, okay? I know there are going to be casualties, but we can't think about that. All we can think about is doing what we can to beat this thing. I didn't mean to get upset with you, but I need to both to understand. This is it, okay? This is it, the final battle."

"Ah," Andrew said fondly, "Like the final siege against-"

"No nerdy references right now, please. Just, are we good?"

Andrew nodded happily. Anya thought for a moment before saying, "I'd rather not die. I volunteer Andrew if we get out of this and no one's dead yet."

"Hey!"

Buffy turned her attention to Faith and Willow. "And where exactly did you two disappear to a few hours ago?" she asked, seeming a little hesitant about knowing the answer.

Faith looked a little thrown, "I…"

"I wanted to go by my parents' house," Willow jumped in excitedly, not wanting to have to explain herself while the others were in the room. "I needed a little change of scenery while I cleared my head for tomorrow. Faith didn't want me to go alone, and everyone else was busy."

"Okay," Buffy said, easily agreeing with the explanation Willow gave her.

* * *

Twenty minutes later found the whole Summers' residents crowded into the main room of the house, sitting on every available piece of furniture and floor space; all twenty three Potential girls plus the Scoobies.

Minus Willow and Faith, who were in the kitchen getting a last moment of privacy.

"Nervous?" Faith asked, bumping her hip against Willow.

"What? To face all of them when Buffy reveals her plan? No, not at all."

"What about tomorrow?"

"Oh, that. Well," she looked at Faith, who was giving her a relaxed smile, and felt her confidence grow a little bit, knowing Faith believed in her. "Yes. Yes, of course I'm nervous. But I'm good."

"Yeah?"

Willow nodded, "I'll have Tara looking after me, you keeping me safe, and my friends all around. So I'll be good. Don't worry."

"Good. Guess we should head in there then, not keep 'em waiting."

Willow gave Faith's hand a quick squeeze before leading her to join the others.

The witch jumped a little bit as she entered the room, seeing everyone packed in one place. Yes, they'd all been living together for over a week now, but usually it was all spread out over the house. Whenever they were all concentrated together she was always forced to realize just how packed the house was.

Twenty three teenage nearly-super powered girls all living in one three-bedroom house. Plus everyone else.

_We should have moved to a hotel or something once everyone left town. Or at least taken over one of the neighbour's houses._

"Okay, we're all here," Dawn said cheerfully from her spot on the couch, squished between Giles and Dani. "Let's get this party started."

Faith opted to lean casually in the door frame, watching the group watch Buffy. Willow placed herself between the two, knowing Buffy wanted her close by, but wanting to stay close to Faith too.

"There's a party now? No one told me we were throwing a party," Xander laughed, "I would have bought streamers."

Faith smirked, "All the stores are closed, Xand."

"Well I'm sure you wouldn't have minded helping me do a little breaking and entering."

Buffy shook her head. "No illegal talk in front of the baby Slayers."

"Right," Anya added, nodding enthousiastically, "We're supposed to be examples of good leadership."

Caridad, one of the girls sitting on the floor, groaned, "Can somebody please just tell us what the hell is going on?"

"I second that."

Buffy sighed, "Thank you Kennedy, Caridad. Yes, okay. So, we've called you all here for a reason."

"Clearly."

"Kennedy, would you like to leave?"

"No, I'd just like to know what's going on. You guys have been planning and scheming all day, we've all noticed." A handful of the Potentials nodded in agreement.

"Yes," Buffy admitted, "We've been planning. We have a plan."

Vi spoke up, "To fight The First?"

Buffy nodded.

"B, maybe start from the beginning?" When Buffy looked over at her, Faith continued, "Last night?"

Buffy blinked, her eyes sliding to Willow. Willow bit her lip, feeling her face flush. She knew that hadn't been what Faith was referring to, but clearly it was the first thing Buffy jumped to. The witch coughed a little under Buffy's heavy gaze, feeling the eyes of everyone else in the room land on her too.

Faith huffed, "The dream, B. I meant the dream."

"Right," Buffy said quickly, blushing slightly. "Sorry. Okay, yes, the dream."

Faith smirked. "You got your head on okay, B? Or do you need me to take over for a minute?"

"Shut up, Faith. I'm fine."

"Are we missing something?"

"No Giles, it's fine." She glanced at Willow, an apologetic smile on her face. "Everything's fine."

To everyone else, it would have sounded like a statement, but to Willow, it sounded like a question, so she bobbed her head a little in agreement, letting Buffy know that yes, everything was fine. If Buffy was managing to deal with the news of her and Faith being together without killing Faith, then Willow was happy. For the moment at least.

"So," Buffy began, "Faith and I had a dream last night, a Slayer dream. And not a magical one we forced to happen, this one was natural. It was dull as hell, but it was natural." Off the confused looks from the Potentials, she continued. "I'll skip over the boring details and jump right to what it meant.

"In the dream, Faith and I were separated from you girls by a web. All of you, all the Potentials here, maybe more that didn't make it here, ones killed by the Bringers, you were on one side, and we were on the other. The dream was a message from the Powers, sent to us to show us exactly what we need to do to win."

Amanda raised her hand. "You're supposed to trap The First in a big net?"

Xander snorted, "Oddly enough, that idea didn't come up during our brain-storming this morning. Good idea. But no."

One of the blonde girls – Willow still didn't know which one was Holly and which one was Kelly – threw their hand up next, "Summon a big spider demon?"

After her outburst a bunch of the girls started speaking up, calling out their ideas. Willow could see Buffy starting to lose her nerve, wondering if they were doing the right thing. Willow felt it too, these girls were so young, so unprepared. Buffy – and Faith – had had the weight of the world thrown on them at the same age, but they had time to learn how to be a Slayer before trying to stop an apocalypse. These girls didn't have that luxury.

A few stern looks from both Faith and Buffy and the Potentials quieted down. "Okay," Buffy said once she had their attention again. "Any more brilliant ideas, or can I just explain it all now?"

"You're supposed to tear down the web," Kennedy said plainly, glancing between the two Slayers like this was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's it, right? Separate whatever barrier is in the way…" her words trailed off, eyes growing wide.

Faith cocked her thumb at the younger brunette, "This one's quick. I like her."

Kennedy still looked shell-shocked, clearly having figured out Buffy's final plan. "No way."

Buffy looked Kennedy right in the eyes as she spoke, "Yes. That's exactly what we're going to do. Break down the wall."

The Potentials immediately began chattering, calling out things like: "What's she talking about" and "What wall?" and "I don't understand."

"She's talking about making you all strong," Buffy explained, "Giving you all exactly what you need to help us win this war, about giving you the choice to stand among us as warriors, to take down the wall that separates you from us," she said, glancing at Faith with an easy smile.

Willow looked away from Buffy as the girl spoke, instead choosing to watch the Potential's faces, seeing how some remained confused and blank, but other's dawned understanding. Molly, Minh, and Amanda joined Kennedy in understanding exactly what Buffy was planning.

Amanda's jaw actually dropped. "Can… can you even do that?" she asked, looking at Buffy and then at Giles. The girls sitting near her turned to look at her, hoping to catch-on to whatever she had figured out. "Mr. Giles, that goes against everything you've taught us."

"All the lore," Molly added. "Is that even possible?"

Willow smiled as Giles glanced at the few Potentials looking to him for advice before looking fondly at Faith and Buffy in turn. "The way Buffy's outlined her plan, I think it's highly possible." He looked at Willow, his face confident. "It will take a lot of work, but I think it is possible." Willow felt her cheeks flush, knowing Giles believed in her power. "It's a remarkable idea."

"You think so?" Buffy asked softly, transforming from the strong woman before them into the timid girl trying to take on the world, waiting for her teacher's approval.

"I do. It goes against what every generation has done, what you're proposing." He ignored some of the groans and glares from the Potentials that still hadn't caught on, knowing Buffy would explain. "But then again, we seem to have been going against what every generation has been doing for some time now. Haven't we, Buffy?"

"The dying thing?" she asked, smiling. "It was nothing, really."

"Hey," Faith laughed, "If it weren't for you dying I wouldn't be super-powered. You definitely go against tradition, B."

"So, what?" one of the girls spoke up. "Buffy's died once, and that broke the rules, so you're going to kill all of us Potentials to break the rules some more?"

"Twice," Willow corrected automatically. "She's died twice now. Or, well, if you count her heart stopping when she was shot, then three times really."

Another girl jumped in, "If you keep dying," she asked, looking right at Buffy, "Over and over, why don't you like, just stay dead? No offence, but if it keeps happening, it's probably for a reason. Like, isn't you dying how one of us takes over the job?"

"That's the thing though, kiddo." Faith took over, pushing up from the doorframe and moving to stand side by side with Buffy, brushing lightly against Willow as she did so. "B dying changed the rules, and we're going to keep changing them. We're going to change it so that Buffy and I don't need to die for one of you to take over."

"You're all here," Buffy began, "Because some evil power is trying to destroy the world, starting with you. It kills off all of you, then kills off Faith and I, and our power, the power to protect the world, will have nowhere to go. You're all here because it's a smidge safer than trying to survive this war on your own. Some of you had Watchers, some of you had well-informed parents, some of you followed your intuition. Maybe some of you even had dreams, visions of me being able to protect you. Somehow, you made it here. And the point is, all of you are here because you don't have a choice. It's either stay here, or leave and risk death."

She paced the room as she spoke, looking at each and every girl watching her, trying to make a connection with all of them. Willow looked on in awe, as, just like every other time Buffy gave a speech like this, the Potentials ate it up. They really did look to Buffy for advice, for protection and guidance. They trusted her.

Willow hoped they trusted Buffy after she revealed her full plan.

"But now we're going to give you another option, another choice in what you can do with your lives. Tomorrow we're going to let you have some of the power Faith and I share. Who can recite the Slayer lore for me?" she asked, eyes bright and smiling.

Molly's hand flew up, and she began without waiting for instruction. "Into every generation a Slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a Chosen One. She alone-"

"Now," Buffy cut her off, "What's wrong with that statement?"

More than one girl answered, "There's two of you."

"Exactly. There's two of us." Buffy turned and looked full on at Faith, "I've shared my power with you for years now and nothing bad has happened, right? Nothing besides a run-of-the-mill apocalypse or two."

Faith nodded, "The Slayer line split down the middle, yeah." Faith shrugged, "Nothing weird though. The power divided, but it never tried to merge back together."

Buffy nodded, "The lore says there's only supposed to be one, but nothing catastrophic happened when we changed that. Neither of us were struck down by lightning, the earth didn't open and try to swallow one of us. Our power let us keep fighting, let our fight against evil grow stronger, rather than weakening and killing one of us to merge the power back to one source. So why not do it again?" she asked, addressing the Potentials once more. "Tomorrow we're going to give all of you the option to stand against the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. Not alone, but together."

Buffy raised her hand, trying to quiet the immediate chatter from the girls, all questioning how she was planning on doing such a radical, unheard of thing.

Faith bent, picking up the scythe, which had been leaning against the cabinet behind her. "This thing? This shiny red axe? This is how we're going to do it. It connects us; it connects all of you to me and Buffy through the power of the Slayer line. You all have the potential to be Slayers, and we're going to turn that potential into actual." She smirked at them, clearly loving having them all so captivated.

And then Willow felt her whole body burn as Buffy explained how exactly they were going to Call the girls. "That scythe? It's magic. You see her?" She nodded her head towards Willow. "She's the most powerful magic-wielder I know. Tomorrow, we're going to go the school and fight The First. Tomorrow, Willow is going to blast the magic Faith and I hold into all of you, using the connections the scythe has with all of you. We're going to turn you into Slayers."

Almost all of the girls expressions changed from awe to skepticism. "Her?" Rona asked? "I thought she was only a step away from Crazy-Dark-Power, Gonna-Kill-Us-All Girl."

Willow whimpered.

"That's the point though," Buffy said, going from glaring at Rona to looking intently at Willow. "No other person on the planet has held as much magic as Willow has and lived to tell the tale. Only Willow is strong enough to do this, to handle that much power and come back from it."

Willow gave a weak smile at Buffy, knowing just how much Buffy believed in her. It was intimidating, but she knew Buffy was sincere.

"But hasn't she like, killed people with her magic?" one of the girls asked nervously.

"Doesn't matter," Faith spoke up, puffing herself up to look down intimidatingly at the girl, and every other one who was looking at Willow in fear. "We all believe in her. It doesn't matter that she has a little darkness inside her. Most of the Scoobies here have at least some darkness somewhere inside them, done something they aren't proud of. It comes with the territory. But that isn't the point." She turned, swinging the scythe in a low arc as she turned to fully face Willow.

Willow felt her cheeks flush further, just from the look Faith was giving her. Her eyes were so open and trusting, showing Willow just how much confidence Faith had in her.

"The point is that she's strong, and she knows it, and she's using her power to try and stop the evil fucker trying to destroy the world, not joining with it."

"What if she kills us all instead though?"

"Who cares, they want to make us Slayers."

"We're going to get to be strong, like Buffy?"

"You mean we'll be able to fight back?"

The room erupted as the Potentials started up again, all talking at once about what was going to happen. Some were still looking at Willow in fear, a few were looking at Buffy in terror, but most of them seemed excited that they'd be able to make a difference, to stand with Buffy and Faith as equals and fight.

Faith stepped next to Willow, her body warm and comforting as she rested a hand against the small of Willow's back. "We all believe in you, Red."

"I know you do, but the others…?"

She looked up, first catching Dawn's smile. The younger Summers was talking with Dani, but looking over Dani's shoulder to Willow, giving her an encouraging smile, and then a knowing wink when she noticed how close Faith was standing.

The meeting clearly over, the Potentials were slowing making their way out of the room, brushing past Willow as they did so. Xander and Anya were among them, helping to herd everyone out of the closely packed room.

"Buffy and Faith are right," Anya chirped, "We trust you not to kill us. And even if you do, I'd rather it be you than The First."

Xander shook his head as Anya moved past, but he stopped and gave Willow's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "We'll all be there fighting alongside you, Will."

"You promise to stop me if I start to go all black-haired?"

Xander smiled, "I'll personally tackle you to the ground if you start looking like the Wicked Witch of the West, alright?"

Willow giggled, pulling him into a quick hug, "Okay. Deal."

"See, Red, we all believe in you," Faith whispered in her ear as Willow pulled back from the hug, before disappearing into the mass of moving people.


	62. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

"Never."

"Come on."

"Really, I'm not lying. Never."

"Never?"

"Nope."

"Seriously, Faith? Not once?"

"Nope."

"You're twenty-one, how is that possible. You've really never-"

"Never."

"Really?"

"Sorry, B."

"I find that hard to believe."

"What, that I'm sorry? Or that I've never had ice cream cake before?"

"Faith, how can you go twenty years of your life without ever having ice cream cake? That's just, that's just unheard of."

Faith stopped walking fully, turning to look at Buffy. "Are we really having this conversation?"

"Ice cream cake, Faith. Ice cream cake," Buffy answered with all seriousness. She walked a few steps to her right, leaning against a headstone and crossing her arms as she looked at Faith. "It's like, every child's dream."

Faith huffed, "I don't see what the big deal is."

"You never once had ice cream cake for your birthday? There were two of you! How could you and Dani have never had ice cream cake for your birthday?"

"Birthday's weren't exactly big, celebrated things at our house, B. If our mother was on a good day, there might be presents and maybe a chocolate bar, or a special dinner. If it was a bad day, we'd be lucky to get dinner. That was just how it worked."

Buffy frowned, "What about friends? You never went to a birthday party where they served ice cream cake?"

"Buffy, I seriously don't see why this is such a big deal for you. I've never had ice cream cake. You've never had sex with someone who wasn't a vampire, aside from soldier boy, who, let's face it, was not exactly your Average Joe. We're just different people."

Buffy squeaked. "Okay, one, how are those two even the same thing? Like, where is that argument even coming from? Sex and ice cream are not the same thing."

"No, but sex and ice cream at the same time-"

"Must you be so crude?"

"It's me, B. What do you expect?"

Buffy made an exasperated noise, clearly not liking the conversation. She unfolded her arms and pushed off from the headstone, standing with her hands on her hips and glaring at Faith. "And two… well and two that isn't exactly true."

"You're shittin' me. You've bumped uglies with someone who wasn't somehow super-powered?"

Buffy glared. "Yes," she muttered.

"Come on, Grumpy," Faith chuckled, beginning to walk away, "We've still got a bit of ground to cover."

They were out for one last patrol before their big battle tomorrow. Everyone was trying to be optimistic, but no one knew how it would turn out. As a way to get away from the stress that was overtaking the house that evening after Buffy announced the plan to the Potentials, and as a way to simply relax as they knew best, Buffy and Faith had agreed to patrol the local cemeteries. Alone this time, without any Potentials tagging along.

There were no vamps still in town by this point. And they had yet to see any of The First's demons out lurking.

It wasn't much of a stress relief, seeing as there were no innocent vamps out to beat and mess around with before an easy dusting, but it was still better than staying in the house. The girls hadn't stopped talking since finding out the plan for tomorrow.

"So am I going to get to hear this story?" Faith asked, walking side by side with the blonde as they made their way through familiar grounds.

"No." Buffy grumbled. "Bitch."

Faith barked out a laugh, "Don't you know it."

After walking in silence for a while, Buffy spoke up, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Does it have to do with sex?" Faith asked cheekily.

"No. God, stop it, will you?"

"What did you want to know, B?"

"Where did you and Willow go today? You skipped out on the end of the training session with the girls. I didn't want to call Willow out in front of the others, but she was lying, wasn't she? When she said you two went to her parent's house?"

"Yeah."

"So?" Buffy asked, curiosity written across her face in the moonlight. "Where'd you two go?"

Faith gave a little sigh, but answered the other girl. This wasn't something worth lying to Buffy about. "The cemetery. Red went to visit Tara."

Faith felt a tug on her arm. She turned, finding Buffy standing still where she was, staring at Faith with an unreadable look on her face.

"What?" Faith cut out, growing uncomfortable. She pushed her hands deep into her pockets and hunched her shoulder's a little bit, not liking her sister Slayer's silence.

"You're not joking," Buffy stated.

"No."

"She, she went to go see…?" Buffy's face grew soft. "You went with her to go see Tara?"

Faith nodded and glanced away, not liking Buffy's direct attention.

"Faith," Buffy said gently, calling her back to look at her. "You… really?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" she asked. "I'm not… I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just, I mean, why though?"

"She asked me to go with her. Of course I went."

Buffy shook her head, "No. No, I meant, why did she want to go? Wouldn't that have been a little…"

She left the sentence hanging, but Faith knew what Buffy wasn't saying. Wouldn't that have been a little awkward, going to see Tara when she was with Faith now? Even if Buffy wasn't quite okay with their relationship, she could clearly see where something like this could go wrong.

"I was the one who suggested it." Buffy's eyes widened, clearly not expecting that, so Faith continued. "This morning, after you told Willow what you wanted her to do. B, you had her freaked. You were asking her to do a lot more than she thought she was ready for, than she thought she could control. Fuck, you had her shaking she was so freaked."

Faith sighed, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "I thought it would be a good idea for her. I got her to calm down, but there was no way she was mentally okay to do any kind of magic, especially not what you were asking. And I knew I couldn't help her, not the way she needed it. I figured, she learned a lot of her magic with T. She trusted and loved her, right? So who better to see when she needed advice. I thought Tara might be able to help her get her head on straight." She finished her words with a helpless shrug.

She watched as Buffy swallowed and blinked a few times, silently staring at Faith. Her face was relaxed, but Faith knew the wheels were turning inside the blonde's head. She could see it in her eyes as she regarded Faith with a quiet awe.

Eventually Buffy gave her head a little shake and began speaking, "What did you do with Faith?"

Faith blinked, "What?"

"Well you clearly aren't Dani, and you aren't at all the girl I remember. You… the girl I remember, I don't think I would have ever believed her if she tried to say something so sincere, so effortlessly truthful. You…" she stepped forward, hand slowly reaching forward to take Faith's. "Wow."

Faith squirmed, uncomfortable. "Whatever, B."

"No," Buffy said gingerly, holding tight to Faith and keeping her where she was. "You really have grown up, Faith. You aren't the same girl anymore, and I'm sorry I doubted that. You really do care about Willow, don't you?" Her words were asked with a gentle curiosity instead of harsh and mocking.

Faith didn't answer, couldn't. She wasn't good at any of this, still had no idea what was happening between her and the redheaded witch. So she settled for simply looking Buffy in the eyes, hoping her silence was enough.

"I'm sorry for this morning."

Faith's eyebrows drew in confusion, "What?"

"This morning," Buffy clarified, "when I found out about you and Willow. I'm sorry that I didn't think you were sincere, that I was a little scared for Willow and mad at you. I'm sorry that my first thought was that you were lying, that my second was remembering what you did to Xander, and that my third was being absolutely positive you would end up hurting her."

Faith sighed, tugging free of Buffy's hold and looking away, "I don't blame you for that, B."

"Faith," Buffy said softly, inching closer but careful not to touch again, "It's still going to take me some time to get used to this, to you and Willow being together. But what you just said about her and Tara," Buffy shook her head. "I can't keep comparing you to the old you, that isn't fair. Not to you, and not to Willow. You're not who you used to be, and… and I can see how much you care about her."

"She's hard not to like," Faith said, finally raising her eyes to look at Buffy.

The blonde smiled at her, and easy and carefree look. "I'm glad you're here, Faith. I'm glad Willow convinced you to come back, despite what you thought the welcome party was going to be like. Despite what the welcome party _was_ like. I wouldn't be able to do this without you."

"Yeah you would, B."

"No," Buffy said, shaking her head, still smiling. "I wouldn't. I wouldn't want anyone else standing back to back with me, fighting down in that pit tomorrow. I trust you, Faith, and I wouldn't want to go into this fight without you."

Faith didn't really know what to make of the comment. She wasn't exactly one for sentimental moments, and had no idea what to say in response.

She'd waited a long time to hear Buffy say words like that, that she trusted her, and said in such a way that Faith truly believed her. She'd come to Sunnydale the first time around to try and impress Buffy, to make a friend and maybe meet someone who could understand what she was going through. Quite clearly, it had ended badly, with the two of them on opposite sides, both out for the other's blood.

It meant a lot, hearing Buffy say she trusted Faith, without pretense or prompt.

They started walking through the cemetery again, moving easily through the dark and quiet grounds. Buffy didn't push Faith to speak any further. She seemed content that she had said her part, and was now simply happy to enjoy the company as they went for one last roam in the darkness.

"For the record, I trust your scrawny ass too, B."

Buffy just shook her head. "Thanks, Faith."

* * *

She found Willow curled up with a blanket on the back porch, looking up at the dark sky.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked as she dropped down lightly next to the redhead.

"Waiting for you and Buffy to get back," Willow said, leaning into Faith's side and tugging the blanket to cover the both of them.

"Can't sleep?"

"Not really, no." Willow said honestly. "I'm not… I mean, okay, yes, a little freaked out about tomorrow. Mostly though? I'm too buzzed to sleep. I get like this any time we have a big battle looming."

"So it's not just that this big battle rests rather heavily on you?"

"A little," Willow admitted. "Mostly just the regular nerves though, not the oh-God-I'm-not-going-to-be-able-to-do-this-I'm-going-to-lose-control-and-end-up-killing-us-all nerves."

"I hear they have pills for that."

Willow giggled and leaned further into her touch, wriggling around until Faith wrapped and arm around her shoulder.

"You'll be great tomorrow."

"What if I lose it, though?" she asked, her voice soft and laced with fear.

Faith shook her head, "We all believe in you, Red. You have the power inside you. All you need is the confidence."

"Don't they make drinks for that?"

Faith laughed, "You want a beer? I could probably find you one."

"Mm, no, I'm good here."

They sat in silence for a long while, wrapped under the blanket and leaning into each other's warmth. Willow had her head resting against Faith's shoulder, dozing, but Faith was looking up at the sky. It was dark and cloudy, the moon and stars half hidden. Giles would probably think it was a bad omen, them not having a clear sky before their big day.

Faith didn't mind though, the clouds dulled everything, smoothed the edges. A clear night might make them feel over-confident, might make them rest a little too easy. They had to stay confident, but Faith knew they weren't facing very good odds. Even if they did manage to turn all the girls into Slayers, they'd still have to defeat The First and all its minions.

"Stop thinking your moody thoughts so loud," Willow muttered sleepily.

"Sorry," Faith laughed.

"How'd patrol with Buffy go?"

"Fine. Didn't see anything." She paused, her arm tightening around Willow before she continued, "I told her where we were today."

Willow lifted her head, looking openly at her. "Oh?" She didn't look scared or afraid, only curiosity.

"Yeah."

"And what'd she say?"

"That she trusts me," Faith said, eyes meeting Willow's. "That she'll still need some time to adjust, but she's okay with us. And that she trusts me to have her back tomorrow."

Willow gave a little giggle, "You two are so similar sometimes it scares me."

"What?"

"It's not a bad thing," Willow soothed, finding Faith's free hand under the blanket. "You two both just seem to want the other's approval, want the knowledge you can trust the other. You're both so stubborn and honest. And despite all the bad stuff, you both do want to trust and get along with the other." She shrugged, "You two are more similar than you think."

"That so?" Faith asked in mock-hurt. "So, what? If we're so similar, then you'd rather be with her?"

Willow shook her head quickly, "Goddess no." She leaned forward, brushing her lips against Faith's before breathing, "I only want you."

"Yeah?"

Willow nodded, nose touching Faith's as she kissed her again, her words soft against Faith's lips, "Yes."

"Well that's good," Faith smirked, lips lightly toying with Willow's.

"Enough talking, please," Willow insisted before kissing her harder, the hand gripping Faith's letting go to press against the Slayer's cheek.

Faith let herself be pushed backwards against the deck as the kiss deepened, Willow's tongue parting her lips and pressing inside. Her hand looped over Willow's shoulder and moved up into her hair, gripping the back of her neck and urging Willow closer. Her other hand gripped Willow's waist, pulling their bodies flush together.

Faith could feel Willow shiver against her, though not from the cold. The blanket remained twisted between them as the redhead ran her hands up and down Faith's sides, moaning as her fingers brushed the skin under the edges of Faith's shirt.

Breaking the kiss, Faith moved to kiss down Willow's throat and then up to her ear, breathing hotly and grinding their bodies together.

Willow shivered again, letting out a throaty gasp before pulling away and sitting upright.

Faith remained where she was, lying against the deck, and blinked up lazily at the witch.

"I think," Willow started, and Faith could hear her trying to get her heavy breathing under control, "it would be bad for us to stay out here any longer."

Faith didn't answer as Willow stood, but let herself be tugged to her feet by the redhead. Once they were standing she pushed Willow roughly against the back door and kissed her deeply. Her hands snaked around to Willow's back pockets, gripping Willow and tugging their bodies closer together, very much enjoying the moan the redhead let out. She kissed her a moment longer before growling out a, "Tease."

"Oh?" Willow asked innocently, batting her eyelashes. Her skin looked flush, even in the dim light, and Faith could feel the heat radiating off the other girl's body.

Faith nodded, repeating herself, "Tease."

Both of Willow's hands lifted to thread into Faith's hair. She tugged, pulling Faith closer so her lips brushed the Slayer's ear. "You know our room is empty, right?"

Faith pulled back immediately, "What?"

Willow smirked. "What, you thought I'd get you riled up and then leave you hanging? Especially after you just got back from patrol?" Her voice was innocent and bright.

"Willow," Faith warned, not sure if the witch was still teasing her or not.

Willow smirked again, eyes flashing as if to challenge her. "It's just one big sleepover in there. I think almost all the girls are sleeping downstairs. It's their last night together, I think they're all a little scared. And your sister's in Dawn's room."

"Those two became friends freakishly fast."

Willow nodded. "So, if we can get in and upstairs silently, then we have our room all to ourselves."

"You're wicked."

"The wickedest," Willow agreed, tugging her into another kiss.

"Upstairs, now," Faith insisted, biting her lip.

Willow managed to get the back door behind her open and the two stumbled inside without breaking the kiss. The sound of laughter from further inside the house made them both jump however, freezing in their movements.

It wasn't that late out yet; they could hear the television playing lowly in the front room, along with whispers and muffled giggles.

"If they stay up all night and are too tired to stand tomorrow I'm killing them myself," Faith growled into Willow's ear before tugging her along. They crept into the foyer and up the stairs, careful not the let the girls know they were there.

The second their bedroom door was closed Faith had Willow pinned against it, kissing her deeply and pressing her body into Willow's. Her hands roamed, pushing the witch's shirt up and out of her way as her hands began to palm Willow's breasts.

Willow moaned into her mouth and Faith smirked in satisfaction, enjoying how hot she was getting the other girl. She let her lips part from Willows and kissed wetly along her jaw until she reached her ear, kissing the lobe and then sliding lower to nip at the sensitive skin behind.

She pressed one of her legs in between Willows and felt the girl shudder at the sensation. Kissing her skin and kneading her flesh, Faith ground their bodies closer together, liking the way Willow's hips bucked helplessly against her, searching for more friction.

"Faith," Willow keeled, "Faith, please. I'm going to lose it before you even touch me if you," her breath hitched and she let out a soft cry as Faith pressed more roughly into her, "i-if you keep this up."

Faith let her tongue dip along the shell of the redhead's ear before pulling back slightly, "And that wouldn't be a good thing?"

Willow whimpered, her eyes squeezed shut as she tossed her head back and forth. "Please," she insisted, tugging insistently against the sides of Faith's shirt. Faith moved her hands to cover Willow's helping her to tug the shirt off before removing Willow's own.

The shirts dropped to the ground and Faith took a step backwards, sliding her pants down her legs. Willow remained rooted against the door, panting heavily and eyes wide with lust as she watched Faith step out of her pants.

Kneeling at Willow's feet, Faith kissed across Willow's stomach as her hands smoothed up and down along her ribs a moment before moving to tug Willow's pants down off her hips. Her lips followed her hands, moving down slowly as she kissed each new piece of milky skin revealed. Her touch travelled all the way down, helping Willow step from the clothes, and then back up, kissing the top of Willow's underwear before looking up at her, an easy grin on her face.

Willow had a soft smile on her face as one hand reached down to tug Faith to her feet. Once she was standing, Willow leaned forward to kiss her lightly. "For such a big, tough Slayer, you sure are a softie," she whispered, looping her arms around Faith's waist.

"For such a big book nerd, you do make some hot and sexy noises when you're enjoying yourself."

Willow blushed. "Only for you."

"My point exactly," Faith husked before leaning in again, kissing Willow deeply and leading her over to the bed.

The last of their clothes falling away, Faith straddled Willow where she lay in the middle of the bed, hands gripping tightly at the redhead's shoulders as she dipped her head down, tongue pressed deeply into Willow's mouth.

Pulling away after a long moment, Faith moved down to kiss and tease at Willow's pulse point, pressing herself roughly against Willow's stomach a few times. The contact made her hiss in pleasure and left Willow whimpering, hands gripping at Faith's back, trying to draw her in closer.

She could feel Willow trying to move underneath her, wanting to flip them so she was on top. Instead Faith pressed harder against the witch, grabbing her hands and pinning them down on the bedspread near her shoulders. She kissed each of Willow's wrists, smirking cockily, both of them knowing Faith was strong enough to hold Willow down fully if she wanted to.

She let go of Willow's hands and scooted down the bed, kissing along the redhead's neck and chest before reaching her breasts. Willow let out a moan of pleasure the moment Faith's lip's touched her sensitive skin, back arching and pressing herself further into Faith's touch. She kissed across both of them, tongue swirling and teeth toying, loving the breathy pants Willow was making in appreciation. Faith kissed her way back to Willow's lips, leaving a wet, hot trail in her wake. They came together again, kissing roughly with tongues and teeth, until the redhead broke away.

She rested her forehead against Faith's, letting out a breathless, "Faith, please," against her lips.

Faith watched the expressions play across the witch's face as her hand moved down, caressing skin until it reached where Willow needed her. Her face was damp, hair a tangled mane of red surrounded her face. Her lips were parted as she tried to catch her breath, and her eyes blinked open in surprise when Faith didn't hesitate in sliding her fingers inside.

Willow was hot and wet and Faith didn't hide her pleased smile as Willow's slick muscles clenched around her hand. Back arching and letting out a little cry, Willow's hands gripped at Faith's back, fingers digging into skin as Faith pushed deeper and began a rhythm.

As Willow's hips canted against her hand, Faith dipped her head again to kiss along Willow's jawline. With each stroke she could feel Willow climbing higher, breathing heavier and her body trembling beneath her. Her hands on Faith's back gripped tighter, curling her body into Faith, and she let out a muffled moan into Faith's shoulder.

Faith focused on keeping her pace steady, pushing Willow closer and closer, but her hands jerked and she gasped as one of Willow's hands slid down from her back to reach between Faith's legs.

"Oh fuck," Faith breathed out as they established a new rhythm, pushing and pulling against each other. She felt her own body begin to hum, everything inside her feeling full and vibrant and alive. Nothing about tomorrow, about the death they all would face, mattered. There was no terror or fear. All that mattered was Willow's writhing body beneath her, keeling little cries as Faith's thumb brushed against her clit.

She felt Willow's muscles begin to flutter against her fingers and knew the redhead was close. Her body pitched forward, grinding down hard on Willow's hand as she captured the other girl's lips with her own. Her free hand was gripping tightly at Willow's waist, while Willow's hand on her back had moved up to curl into her hair.

"Faith," Willow whimpered, her voice wavering.

"Let go, Red," Faith urged, pressing and curling her fingers as deep as she could while roughly pressing on the humming bundle of nerves under her thumb. Willow's back arched, head tipping back as her hips bucked up against Faith a few more times, gasping out Faith's name as she came undone.

Feeling Willow clamping down on her fingers, her whole body trembling with pleasure, Faith only needed to rock herself a few more times against Willow's fingers until she tumbled too, everything inside her catching fire.

Her body slumped and she collapsed, barely managing to catch herself before she landed on her back next to the witch. Willow hummed contentedly and curled her body around Faith's, sighing happily against her ear.

"You're still a tease," Faith said after a while of simply lying there, enjoying the feeling of Willow pressed against her, warm and sure. "Totally could have been up here sooner."

Willow purred and snuggled closer. "Sleep now, complain later."


	63. July 22, 1998

_**July 22, 1998**_

She stumbled in the door, fingers clutching tightly to the handle to keep her balance. Her legs felt like they were about to give out. Her heart was pounding against her chest, the sound drumming in her ears.

_He's coming._

She drew in a slow, shaky breath, trying to calm herself down. She was out of breath from running. Her legs felt like lead as she attempted to step further into the house. Her fingers tightened their hold on the door handle, keeping herself upright as she swayed on unsteady feet.

When the room stopped spinning, Faith staggered into the house, closing the door behind her and cutting out the cold night air biting into her torn clothes.

More tears worked their way down her cheeks, mixing with blood and dirt.

_They… they had…_

Her legs gave out and she fell to the floor of the front hallway, heaving up what was left in her stomach. She stayed there a moment, on her hands and knees, not able to bring herself to move. She stared blankly ahead, replaying the scene over and over again in her mind.

She hadn't been strong enough.

She hadn't been able to stop him.

She hadn't been able to save her.

Another wave of nausea. She dry-heaved, her stomach clenching painfully as it tried to expel its non-existent contents. She was shaking, her whole body trembling with fear, with sorrow. She stayed on the floor while the tears tracked down her cheeks as the realization hit her.

_She's dead._

_I let Diana die._

Faith squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the images from her mind. A strangled sob escaped her bloodied lips. Trying to force the gory scenes replying in her head to stop, she got to her feet. She took a few more slow steps down the hallway of the empty house, one hand on the wall for support. Its silence rang out; a blaring reminder of what had happened a short time earlier.

_She's never coming back._

Two steps into the kitchen. Faith was numb. Exhausted and lost, she let her eyes trail over the darkened room. The clock on the wall read ten after four in the morning. She watched as the second hand slowly ticked its way around the circle, each noise mocking her in her defeat.

"_You lost. You lost. You lost,"_ it taunted her. _"You lost. She died. You're next."_

She looked around the deserted room, feeling empty. Not sure what to do next.

The tea kettle sat on the stovetop, waiting to be used. Two hours from now. Two hours from now Diana would have been just taking the kettle off the stove to make herself her morning cup of tea. And each morning, when Faith came down the stairs, she'd ask Faith if she'd like a cup. Their little routine. Faith would shake her head no, say, "Not much of a tea person" and would instead grab a glass of water as Diana put a slice of bread in the toaster for her. "Maybe someday I'll teach you to appreciate a good cup of tea," the older woman would say.

Every morning. That was their routine. They'd say their lines every morning. That was how it went.

Faith felt her stomach squeeze again at the painful memory, forcing her to grab onto the doorframe for support. Then she backed out of the room, leaving another bloodied handprint on the painted wood.

The stairs loomed ahead of her and seemed to go on forever as she forced her battered body to climb to the top.

She slipped into her bedroom. The blinds were down and the light was off. It was still and dark inside. She sat on the bed, hands resting on her knees. Faith looked around the room. Her eyes trailed over all the contents, but her brain registered nothing. All of it was meaningless now.

She looked down. Her hands were shaking.

Faith commanded them to stop.

They kept shaking.

_She danced around the room, squeezing the fingers of her right hand tightly in her left. "Damn, damn, damn," she cursed, trying to ignore the pain._

"_You cut your hand?"_

_Her head flew up, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "I…"_

"If you'd wanted something to eat, Faith," Diana said, "you could have asked. You don't have to sneak around this house. I've told you this."

"_Right."_

"_Let me see." Diana held out her own hands, wanting to inspect Faith's bleeding fingers._

_Faith hesitated. Diana smiled warmly at her. She gave in, placing her hands in the older woman's._

_Diana tisked, "Nicked yourself pretty bad. Must have hit a vein, it's bleeding quite a bit. Oh, Faith, your hands are shaking; go and run them under the tap, I'll get the first aid kit."_

Faith stood up, bringing the memory to a stop.

_She isn't coming back._

She had to leave. He had killed Diana, but he hadn't finished with her yet. He was going to kill her too. Faith had escaped, but she knew he'd find her. It was all a game to him.

Faith walked to the bathroom. She turned the tap on and held her hands under the stream of water, washing the blood. Her own blood. Diana's blood. She started scrubbing, willing the water to run clear. She moved up her arms, scratching, clawing at her own skin to get the drying blood off her. The water ran pink for a long time before it became clear.

_I have to leave._

She grabbed the hand-towel next to the sink and ran it under the water a moment before scrubbing at her face. She had to leave; she had to get out of this place. She couldn't stay here if he was looking for her. She had to get the blood off so people wouldn't ask questions as she made her way out of the city.

When she was finished she left the towel in the sink, stained red from all the blood. She went back to her room and stripped out of her torn and bloody clothes. Her shoulder stung. Her legs ached. Her body was trembling. But she had to leave. He'd be looking for her.

She pulled on the closest things she could find. Then moved towards the closet, pulled out her backpack, and began hastily shoving clothes into it. Moving on autopilot. Trying not to think of why she was leaving, of what she'd just witnessed. After the clothes, a hairbrush, a toothbrush, her watch.

Faith looked around the room, wanting to take it all with her. This room, this house, the woman who owned it, they'd been nothing but kind to her.

_I let her die._

The small wallet Diana had given her was picked up off the dresser and put in the backpack as well. And with it one of the most generous gifts Faith had ever received.

"_What is it?" Faith asked, taking the object into her hands._

"_It's a wallet, Faith. Surely you know what that is."_

"_No, I… why? Why are you giving it to me?"_

_The woman smiled, "I may be an old woman, Faith. But I still have my wits about me. I'd rather you have some money of your own, than have you sneaking some from my purse."_

_Faith's eyes widened slightly; she'd been caught._

"_Faith, I've told you. You can trust me, I want to help you. You don't need to sneak about. If you want to borrow some money, all you need do is ask. So that's why I'm giving you this, it's got a few bills in it right now," she laid a gentle hand on Faith's shoulder. "More importantly, I've set up a small account for you."_

"_Wh… What do you mean?"_

"_I know your mother didn't leave much in the way of money for you. You're a growing girl; I want you to have some money at your expense. Go out to a movie, find a party, whatever it is kids in this city do. You're a Slayer, but I understand that you need some space sometimes."_

"_Diana, I…" Faith couldn't think of words to express her thanks. It was such a simple gesture, a small amount of money put away for her, but it was a form of kindness she had never known. No one had ever offered to look out for her like that. "Thank you."_

_This was the moment she knew she didn't want to disappoint Diana. Her Watcher. Her friend. The only adult in her life that had been kind to her, that she could count on._

_She may be a girl who, after another girl had died, had inherited some type of superpowers, but that didn't matter to Faith. She was going to show Diana she was willing to do this, to do whatever it was the English woman wanted, train and learn how to kill monsters. Because Diana believed in her. Diana trusted her._

_And Faith trusted Diana._

She had to get out of here. She had to run.

Faith hadn't touched any of the money in the bank account. She'd been saving it. Unsure of what to use it for. Now she knew. She didn't know how much Diana had put away for her, but she hoped it would be enough to help her get by. She was alone now.

A fresh wave of tears began to fall.

Halfway down the stairs her legs gave out and she slipped down the last few. Sprawled on her hands and knees at the base of the stairs, Faith choked back a sob.

_I let her die._

She pushed herself up to her feet and stumbled down the hall. Her arms were shaking, the walls were blurring in and out of focus.

The kitchen.

Faith was alone now. She had no one to look out for her, no one to trust, no one to turn to. She had to run from here, before he found her. She was on her own.

A water bottle from the fridge, a few apples, a handful of breakfast bars. Light things that wouldn't weigh her down. She didn't want to stop to eat somewhere. She wanted to get as far away from this place as possible.

Two stakes from the weapon's cabinet in the small library. And a pair of boots. Then she slipped the bag over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Faith whispered to the empty house. "You… you believed in me. I let you down."

More tears.

Harder tears.

Sobs.

She was sliding down the wall, feeling herself curl into a tiny ball when she hit the ground as she cried.

She couldn't leave this place. In five short months this had become a true home to her. Diana had become a friend, she wasn't just her Watcher. She looked out for Faith, cared for her.

_And he killed her._

_I watched him kill her._

It was a long time before her cries subsided, a long time before her body stopped shaking. But as she stood, using the wall for support, Faith knew she had to leave. She'd wasted too much time already. He was coming after her. He was hunting her.

_I should tell someone_.

A final thought before she left. Someone needed to know what happened. Diana deserved that much.

Faith picked up the phone. Not the police. They didn't know about demons or vampires, bringing them in would only put them in danger. If they believed her. She couldn't call them.

Diana was a Watcher. There was a Watcher's Council in England. She worked for them. They would know what to do.

She began hastily flipping through the small black book next to the phone, trying to read through the tears in her eyes, but there was no number listed as Watcher's Council of England.

Hot, frustrated tears began making their way down her cheeks again. She didn't have time for this; she needed to get as far away from this place as she could.

But Diana deserved this.

Faith looked through the book again, more slowly this time. But she didn't know what she was looking for. Most of the numbers were area-codes she didn't recognize; how could she know which numbers were England phone numbers?

When she got to the D's she paused. The first number listed was Nancy Dormer. Diana's sister.

Nancy had died two months ago. She was the last family Diana had.

Faith forced herself to keep looking, not to think about how Diana's name in someone else's phonebook would now be useless.

All the entries were alphabetized, but on the last page two numbers were scrawled in Diana's fancy hand-writing. Diana was a very neat and organized person, there must have been a reason these two names were not in the book in their proper place.

One was for a Quentin Travers. The other was for a Rupert Giles.

Faith took a chance and began dialling the first number listed.

It rang for a moment before a chipper voice answered, _"Hello, this is Quentin Travers' office." _

Faith didn't respond. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't just ask them if they were the Watcher's Council, the people in charge of the Slayer.

"_Hello? Is there anyone on the line?"_ The woman asked.

"I…"

"_Hello?"_

Faith felt her throat closing up. Even if this was the Council, what was she supposed to tell them? "I-I'm… I'm sorry."

"_I'm sorry, Miss? You're going to have to speak up."_

"I… Oh God… I didn't mean for… I'm sorry."

"_Miss? May I ask whose calling?"_

"I'm s-so sorry," Faith whispered, as more tears silently made their way down her cheeks.

"_Miss, is everything alright."_

"She… she's… I didn't mean…"

"_Who is this? Who's calling?"_

"She's dead."

"_Who's dead? What's going on?"_

"…D-Diana."

"_Diana?"_

"Diana D-Dormer… she's… he… he… k-killed…"

"_Miss Dormer? Something's attacked Miss Dormer? Oh, my… hold on one moment, I'll get Mr. Travers. He's in a meet-"_

"I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop him."

"_Miss? Miss are you still there? Miss…"_

The phone slipped out of Faith's hand. The woman's voice sounded very far away as she pleaded with Faith for more information.

There was something at the front door. Voices. A loud bang.

Faith could hear her own heartbeat in her ears, feel her panic rising. He'd found her. He'd had his fun, killing Diana, and now he was going to kill her.

More loud noises. Someone was trying to force the door open.

They wouldn't need an invitation to enter. Diana owned the house, she was dead now. They'd be able to get inside. Get to her.

She felt the clenching in her stomach. The twinges, her Slayer senses, that meant a vampire was close-by.

Another loud bang. The door had been broken down.

Faith was already out the back door, running for her life.


	64. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

As far as Scooby plans went, this one wasn't that bad. In theory.

In school, Willow always liked theory work. Not that she didn't like the application work, projects and reports and essays, but she did enjoy learning the basics that everything her education was built upon.

When it came to magic however, she wasn't always so strong with theory. Magic was more of a constant application and less of a theory lesson. Maybe it was because she had taught herself most of what she knew, instead of having someone instruct her in a proper way. Sure, she and Tara had learned together, and the people at the Coven helped, but most of Willow's magic was self-taught.

Things that only work out in theory don't tend to go well when you skip the theory lesson and jump right to giving people tremendous amounts of power.

The house had been in a major frenzy that morning; all the Potentials literally had so much energy Buffy had made them go run laps around the block just to blow off some steam.

They were a mix between excited and terrified. Everyone in the house, not just the Potentials. Everyone was filled with a nervous energy. It wasn't that they thought they were going to win, it was simply that this was it, their last big move. One way or another, the war with The First would be over after this.

Everyone was so wrapped up in their own anxiousness that, when Buffy gave a pep-talk during breakfast, no one noticed Willow standing in the corner of the room, hyperventilating. Or, more specifically, Faith standing right next to her, rubbing a soothing hand against her back.

Faith was really good at the calming thing. Willow never called her out on it exactly, but she did notice how subtly attentive Faith was to her, always seeming to be right where Willow needed her to be.

Faith said she never really did the relationship thing, and Willow understood that, but it wasn't like Faith was a complete idiot either. A subtle look or a lingering touch, done in a way that no one else would notice except for Willow. And Willow noticed. Every dance of Faith's fingers across her arm, every warm breath near her ear, every open look Faith gave her, Willow noticed.

Willow noticed, and was in awe a little bit. She never realized how, well, sweet Faith could be sometimes.

And it wasn't that Faith was being sweet, it was that Faith was being sweet to _her._

This was all still so new. Had it only been eleven days ago that she'd gone to L.A. to help out Angel?

Had she and Faith developed feelings, strong feelings, and developed some sort of tentative relationship out of only eleven days of getting close to one another?

It was enough to make her head spin. But in a good way. She liked the way Faith made her head spin.

"When did you get in last night?"

Willow turned, Dawn had caught up with her.

It was almost noon, and they – the whole group of them – were currently making their way to the school. That was part of the plan, having the sun on their side. If they were attacked by übervamps, or any of the other ancient demons that were at The First's beck and call, then the sunlight would be on their side. If would keep the battle constricted to within the school.

The Bringers were probably the only minions that could go out during the day, but aside from when they were chasing the Potentials as they made their way to Sunnydale, they had never attacked, or been seen for that matter, during the daytime.

Sunlight was on their side.

"What?" she asked Dawn.

"You were still waiting on the back porch for Faith and Buffy to get back from their patrol when I went to bed. What time did you come inside?"

"Oh, um. I'm not really sure. A little past eleven I guess?" She hadn't exactly been aware of what time it was, only that Faith was back and Faith was kissing her and all that really mattered at that moment in time was the Faith kissing, not the time of night. "You didn't stay up with the other girls?"

Dawn laughed, "Seeing as how I'm not actually superpowerd, even minutely so, I do require a healthy amount of sleep each night, especially when we're facing a day like today."

"Fair." She waited a beat and then added, "So you were probably sound asleep by the time Faith and I went upstairs then?"

She had been a little too involved in the moment, but the prospects of anyone hearing her and Faith last night… well… that would be a little embarrassing.

Or more like extremely embarrassing.

"You mean did I hear any of your wild and crazy sex-machine noises? No," she shook her head. "Although," she said, glancing side-long at Willow, "now that you mention it." She reached out and tugged a little on the collar of Willow's shirt. "I thought I noticed a…"

"No touching," the redhead squeaked, batting Dawn's hand away.

"Bet you weren't singing that song last night with Faith."

Willow felt her face flushing, "Dawnie stop, please."

"No way. Now I totally get why Faith likes making sexual jokes at people to make them uncomfortable. Because it's fun."

"She's a bad influence on you," Willow growled, glaring at Dawn.

Dawn shrugged, "What can you do?"

_Tie you up and lock you in a closet,_ Willow thought to herself, _I know Buffy's had some experience in that department._

_Oh Goddess, there it is._

Sunnydale High School stood silent and proud in the bright sunlight. Rebuilt from the days Willow attended, it still had that same eeriness about it. It was still, way too quiet for this time of year. The front lawn had some debris scattered, evidence of the vandalism that had occurred right before it was shut down.

It was deathly quiet all around, no birds singing, no cars rushing past. Only the hushed whispers of the Potentials as they approached. They were standing at the curb, fanning out on the road. No one wanted to get close to the school until it was absolutely necessary. Xander and Giles were trying to organize the girls into groups, giving last-minute reassurances and distributing weapons.

Willow could see Faith and Buffy standing a few yards off, away from the Potentials. Dani and Andrew were with them, Dani clinging to Faith and Andrew standing quietly next to Buffy.

Buffy met Willow's eyes, beckoning them to come closer. "I think your sister wants us," she said to Dawn.

Dawn huffed. "I'm not going to like whatever she's about to say, am I?"

"Come on," Willow said, walking towards the Slayers, knowing Dawn would follow. "Let's see what they want."

"What's going on?" Dawn asked once they reached the others.

"Dawn," Buffy said, looking tensely at her. Andrew and Faith were both quiet, and Dani was leaning into Faith's embrace, quiet but clearly distressed.

Willow watched as Dawn's expression morphed instantly. "You aren't going to let me fight," she accused.

"Dawn-"

"That's not fair! Buffy, I'm just as capable of fighting as everyone else here."

"Dawn, I don't want you to get hurt."

"No," Dawn snapped, "You want to control me. Buffy, that isn't fair. I want to help. Why would you let me come all the way here and then try to tell me I can't fight?"

"Because I knew you would throw a hissy fit," Buffy mumbled.

"I'm a part of this just as much as you are. Everyone else gets to help, Buffy. You can't tell me I'm not fighting alongside you."

"Dawn," Buffy pleaded. She took a step forward but Dawn took a gracious step backwards, glaring. "Dawn, you're my sister. I can't let anything happen to you."

"But you can let them go in and fight," Dawn growled, pointing to the Potentials a few feet away. "Buffy, no, you can't keep me from this."

"This isn't up for debate, Dawn. I'm not letting you fight."

"Is this because I'm not super-powered like the rest of you?" She glanced at Willow and then at Faith, before looking back at Buffy, "What about Giles and Xander? And Andrew? They all get to fight while you control me? Buffy, I want to kill this thing just as much as you do."

"Which is exactly why I can't let you fight."

Dawn opened her mouth to argue further but Willow jumped in, hoping to smooth things between the sisters. "Dawn, Buffy's right. She-"

Dawn spun, turning to glare angrily at her. "You too?" she seethed.

"Dawn, hear me out? You're right, you don't have powers the way most of us do."

"Xander doesn't have powers but he'd been fighting since he was my age, younger even."

"Exactly," Willow said gently, "Xander has experience. You don't."

"Because you're always trying to protect me! I'd know how to fight if you'd let me!" she stomped her feet against the pavement. "This isn't fair, Buffy."

"Dawn," Buffy said seriously. "This isn't about you."

And that's when Willow realized what was going on; this wasn't about trying to keep Dawn safe from the battle. Dani was still clinging to Faith, and the brunette Slayer had yet to say two words.

"Then what is it about? It's always been like this, Buffy. For once let me help, let me fight. What could possibly me more important than keeping poor, little Dawnie safe?"

"Dani," Willow said carefully, watching Faith's face. Faith was standing very still, her only movement in the form of rubbing her sister's back. Her face was a hard mask, watching the interaction before them. But she did glance at Willow at the sound of her sister's name, nodding slightly.

Dawn seemed to deflate right away, "What?" she asked softly, turning to look at Faith and then at Buffy again.

"Dawn, Dani can't be here. Not for this. It will be too much for her," Buffy explained, laying a hand on her sister's shoulder. This time Dawn didn't back away from the touch. "She needs to be somewhere safe, I want you and Andrew to look after her."

"So why not have them stay back at the house?" Willow questioned before Dawn had the chance.

"Not safe there," Faith finally spoke up. "Soon as The First realizes what we're doing, it's going to try and beat us down. We don't know what it will do, but we can't risk having them back at the house in case it sends something there to kill off the stragglers." Dani burrowed deeper into Faith's chest, shaking her head but keeping quiet.

"Dawn," Buffy began, her voice pleading, "Dani trusts you. She trusts Faith, and she trusts you. But Faith has to be with us for the fight, we need her. You're the only who can be around her, who can help if she starts to… if she gets upset, you're the only one who will be able to keep her calm."

"You mean," Dawn said slowly, "You mean if she… if she sees what's going to happen?"

"She knows what's going down," Faith said, addressing the younger Summers. "She hasn't seen anything yet, but there's no telling what will happen once the fight starts. I trust you to keep her safe."

Willow smiled, knowing Dawn was going to give in. Faith's voice didn't waver, but there was still something about her words that tugged at Willow's heart, her honest need to protect her sister. Willow knew Dawn could hear it too, and wouldn't be able to say no.

If it was hard for Buffy, knowing she had to lead but also protect her sister, Willow knew it must be ten times harder for Faith.

"Okay," Dawn said, her voice subdued. "I'll keep her safe."

"Where do you want us to be?" Andrew asked, speaking up for the first time.

Willow looked around, having been thinking the same question Andrew asked. If the house wasn't safe once the fight started, where did Buffy think _would_ be safe?

"One of the houses across the street," Buffy said quietly, as if The First might be listening. "Pick one, doesn't matter which, and break in. If we… if the demons get outside, they'll be after any human stragglers left in town. The First will want the übervamps to take over whatever population of people is closest if we…" She kept breaking off her thoughts, trying to convey what would happen if the lost.

None of them wanted to think about it, but it had to be said. If they didn't win, Dawn and Andrew and Dani had to be kept safe.

"They won't bother with the closest houses," Buffy continued, "Those are your best bet." She looked at Andrew, her lips in a thin line. "You and Dawn can take weapons, if it'll make you feel better. But you'll be safe. The First, Caleb and the demons will be focused on killing who is here, not figuring out who's missing."

Dawn and Andrew both nodded, understanding how serious Buffy was.

Willow didn't like it; none of them liked it, but everyone had a place in this battle. Not everyone could be on the front lines.

If she could, Willow would gladly give up her role in all this and switch with Dawn and Andrew. But she knew she couldn't. She was needed in her place, just like Dawn was needed in hers.

"You hear that, Dan?" Faith asked, pulling back from her sister a little. "Dawn and Andy are going to stay with you until this is all over, 'kay?"

Dani shook her head, and Willow saw she had tears in her eyes.

She looked so much smaller than Faith. Even though they were nearly identical in looks, Faith looked so much older and stronger. Daniela looked like a frail and frightened bird, trembling and trying not to cry. They resembled Buffy and Dawn, as if there were a big age gap between them, not only a few minutes. Dani seemed so much younger and more vulnerable.

Faith was vulnerable too, Willow knew, but in different ways.

"Dan, you've gotta do this for me."

"No. No, I don't want to go. I don't want to leave you."

"It isn't safe for you here, Dani, you know that."

"No," Dani whimpered, trying to wrap her arms around her sister again. Faith stepped back, catching her sister's hands. "Faithie, please. I don't want to go. I can see them," she cried, "I can see them, hungry and waiting, you can't go." She started struggling, trying to break free of her sister's hold.

Faith kept her grip firm, eventually tugging her sister closer and wrapping her in a hug. "Dan, please. Don't fight this."

"Faithie, no," she sobbed, pressing her face into Faith's shoulder. "Don't leave me again."

Willow could see Faith's resolve breaking, her sister's pleas becoming too much for her.

She looked away from the pair. Dawn was looking down at the pavement, trying not to intrude. Andrew was standing quietly, still and silent and waiting. He looked scared, his face more serious than Willow had ever seen it.

Buffy looked almost as close to giving in as Faith was. Neither of them were very good and resisting their sisters' cries.

"Dani," Willow tried, laying a hand on the girl's back. "Buffy and I will keep Faith safe for you, okay? But you need to go with Dawn and Andrew so they can keep you safe." Daniela was the one in the most danger here, inexperienced and unable to fight, almost crippled by her Seer abilities. Even with all of them watching, they wouldn't be able to protect her.

"No," she whimpered, trying to further sink into Faith's embrace. "No, no, no. Faithie, you can't go."

"Dan," Faith started, but her voice cracked. Willow watched as she swallowed and tried again, pulling back from her sister's hold. "Dan, you know this is my job, okay? You know what I have to do."

"Fight the bad things," Dani said, looking sad and miserable.

"And your job is to stay safe. You have to be safe so you can See the next bad things comin', right? You have to stay safe, so you can tell me where to go next."

"I don't want to See them anymore. Make them stop."

"We can't make the visions stop, Dani," Willow tried, her voice gentle. "But Faith's right; you need to stay safe so you can tell us where the bad things are after we defeat this one."

They had an audience by this point. Most of the Potentials were staying back, giving them space. But Giles, Anya and Xander were hovering near the edge of their circle, not sure if they should get involved.

Spike was the only one not being drawn near due to Dani's cries; he was a few feet away, standing in the shade of a tree, blanket thrown over his head and shoulders.

"Dani," Faith tried again, and by now Willow could see the tears in her eyes. "Do you remember…" she trailed off, glancing around their group and becoming aware of her audience.

She squeezed Dani's arms where she held them and looked her sister in the eyes as she tried again, "Dani. Dani, I need you to listen to me, okay?"

Dani nodded sadly, a few tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Do you remember what I told you? When…" Faith gulped visibly, "when they took you away from me the first time?"

This was clearly hard for Faith. Aside from herself, and maybe Buffy and Dawn, Willow was sure that no one knew what had happened between Faith and her sister, how Dani had ended up at the institution. Willow had bits and pieces of the story, and those had been hard enough to coax out of Faith. Revealing everything in front of the Scoobies was something Faith didn't want to do, but keeping her sister safe mattered more.

"Don't make me go," her sister said softly.

Willow watched Faith take a deep breath, steeling herself, before she continued on.

"When they took you away, I promised you I'd come and find you. I kept my promise, didn't I?" Only after Dani nodded did Faith continue. "I promised you I'd come and get you, and I will again, okay? This," she glanced over at the school's front doors and then back at her sister, "Piece of cake, okay?" Her voice wavered with emotion, and Willow felt her insides clench, but Faith pressed on. "We, all of us, we'll destroy this monster, and then I'll come and get you.

"Dani, you have to be good and strong and brave for me, okay? You remember the promise? From last time? Be safe for me until I can come and get you, and I promise I'll come back, okay?"

Dani nodded, tears still in her eyes. But she nodded.

Willow watched as Faith looked over her sister's shoulder at Andrew. "Dawn and Andrew will keep you safe, okay?"

Even though she was talking with her sister, Andrew nodded solemnly at Faith.

She hugged her sister once more, a tight and desperate hug. Then she pulled back, kissing the top of Dani's head. "Go," she insisted.

Dawn stepped forward, slipping an arm around Dani's waist and leading her away from the school silently. Andrew followed right behind.

Willow could see how uncomfortable Faith was. She stared intently at the school, not watching her sister's retreat. Her face was hard, clearly uncomfortable with showing so much raw emotion in front of the Scoobies.

Faith was only human, but even now, before the battle for their lives, she tried her hardest to keep up her strong mask. She didn't want them to see her weak. Like Buffy, Faith tried to hide her emotions away in favour of being a leader.

"Let's go set up," Buffy said gently, beginning to lead everyone towards the entrance of the school.

Everyone gave Faith the distance she needed. Willow tried to too, opting to walk closer to Buffy, but she felt Faith coming up beside her, seeking her out. If made her heart flutter a little bit, knowing Faith wanted to be near her when she didn't want to be near others.

"She'll be okay," she said, turning to look Faith in the eyes as they walked. Her fingers twitched, desperately wanted to reach out and comfort the Slayer, but she knew she shouldn't. Not right now.

Faith nodded silently.

The group of them pooled inside the front foyer of the school, many of the Potential girls looking nervously down the hallways, as if expecting something to jump out at them. Willow could practically feel all their nervous energy, collecting and seeping into her.

Faith's fingertips brushed feather-like against her back, pulling her from her dark thoughts before they even formed.

"You'll do great," she said lowly so no one else would hear.

"Alright," Buffy began, reviewing their game-plan, "Potentials, you're with Faith, Spike and I. We're going down into the basement, into the Hellmouth."

"It's too quiet," Rona said, glancing back and forth. "They know we're here?"

Buffy shrugged, "They might. Doesn't matter. Our job is to keep the demons, whatever The First throws at us, at bay. We don't let them reach the main floor. Willow," she said, glancing right at the witch, "You're in Robin's old office. It's right above the seal and the best place for you to do your magic. Anya, you're with Willow. Don't leave her side; she won't be able to protect herself if something attacks and she's in the middle of the spell. Giles and Xander will be in the hallway, our second line. There's only one entrance to the basement floor, you two are guarding that. If anything sneaks past us, you keep it from getting up here and outside.

"We're expecting übervamps down in the seal, and any of the demons The First likes sending after us, but there could be anything down there."

"Caleb?" Spike asked. "We're expecting him, right? What happens if he doesn't show?"

"Oh, he'll show."

Giles spoke up, "The church was his basecamp, and we've destroyed that. The only other time we've been in the school since then, Buffy said he was here. More than likely, he and The First have re-grouped here, especially after the ordeal with opening the seal."

Buffy nodded. "We're counting on two things going into this; Caleb showing and Willow's spell working. I don't know about you, but I believe both of them _will_ happen. But if anything goes wrong, you fall back, okay?" she said, addressing the whole group. "We're here to fight, to protect the world. Remember that." And with that she began walking down the hall towards the basement, Spike and the Potentials following.

Willow looked up at Faith, an easy smile on her face. They had already wished each other luck back at the house, where there was still privacy. There was no chance for a goodbye kiss here, so a look was going to have to be enough.

Faith smiled back, nodding at her. She seemed calmer than she had outside with Dani, the prospect of fighting no doubt waking the Slayer inside her and preparing her for what was to come.

"See you in a little while?"

Willow bobbed her head and gave a shy giggle, "Yep. Good luck. Don't get stabbed."

"No black eyes."

"Right," Willow agreed.

"I'm hoping for that too," Anya said, grabbing her arm and beginning to drag her down the hallway, "Let's go. The sooner you get this spell working and we all save the day the less I'll feel like I'm about to die."


	65. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

The Sunnydale High School basement was not the most spacious place.

A lot of the furniture – filing cabinets, exercise mats, janitorial equipment – had been removed since their last visit; Faith ignored the stab of pain in her leg that arose with just the thought of the last time they were down here. All the windows had been blacked out, however, which made her nervous for the coming fight. The closer they got to where the seal lay towards the far end of the basement, the more the Slayer inside her began to crawl, sensing the evil things around them they couldn't yet see.

"B," Faith said in a hushed voice as the approached the seal. The metal ring lay open and silent, the tang of blood still fresh in air. The First had opened it again. That couldn't be good.

"If it's open, why is nothing coming out?" Vi whispered, voicing Faith's thoughts perfectly.

Buffy's face grew hard, "They knew we were coming."

"It was only a matter of time before we brought the fight to them, B."

"No point in getting all upset now," Spike scoffed, shaking his head. "We're here, let's do some damage."

"Well now, I do believe it'll be us that will be doin' the damage."

Faith and Buffy whipped around as one; Caleb had materialized to their left, stepping out from the shadows. He was dressed in his usual preacher get-up; dark suit, white collar around his neck. He looked no different than the last time they'd seen him, in this very spot.

The only difference was his hands were bleeding, drops of blood dripping onto the dirty basement floor.

This time wasn't a trap. This wasn't a game of Capture the Potentials to see if the Scoobies would come running. This time wasn't a warning, sending a few übervamps after them. This was it, the final battle.

And Caleb knew it.

"Rise, my swarm of minions, and heed our master's call."

Faith didn't have time to curse in surprise; she hardly had time to blink. In seconds an army of the hideously disfigured and impossibly strong Turok-Han rose from the depths of the Hellmouth, leaping out of the seal with their claws and fangs ready, itching for the blood of the Slayer line.

Buffy screamed something, but Faith was too busy throwing herself into the fray to hear. She had had early pick of the weapons, a sword in her hand and two spare daggers in her belt. Most of the Potentials were equally equipped. No stakes this time, the skin of the übervamps was too thick.

The scythe was with Willow, a floor above them and hopefully getting ready to work her magic.

They'd need it.

Faith didn't know how many Turok-Han had risen from inside the Hellmouth; it was too difficult to count while trying to avoid having her skin ripped to shreds from their claws. But as she spun and kicked at one while driving her sword into another, it was easy to see they were outnumbered, maybe two-to-one. And all the girls were down in the basement fighting. Their second line of defense was only Giles and Xander guarding the only exit out of the basement.

The Slayer inside her was singing with fury, on full alert with the number of ancient beasts attacking them. It snarled inside her, demanding to take over the fight, and Faith let it. She gave herself over fully to the instincts of the power inside her. Hardly having time to think, Faith only acted. Slashing and hacking at anything that came near enough for her blade to hit.

The basement may have been large and empty, but there was hardly enough room for twenty-odd fighters against the army of ancient vampires. It was difficult, focusing fully on killing the beasts without hitting any of the people on her side.

"Kennedy, your left!" she yelled, hardly taking the time to watch if the other girl heeded her call, before spinning and throwing herself forward, launching her sword into another of the vampires coming towards her. It howled in pain; she had stabbed it clear in the stomach, but it wasn't a kill shot, nowhere near.

She felt thick, heavy breath on the back of her neck and, yanking the blade from the demon in front of her, turned and spun, sliding it into the one behind her.

There was a clang of steel, hers and Kennedy's blades meeting in the middle as they each slashed through half the creature's neck. It exploded into a howling cloud of dust, revealing Kennedy standing behind it.

"Duck," she yelled and Faith dropped as Kennedy's blade sunk home into the vampire behind her that Faith had injured seconds ago. She felt the blast of dust and knew Kennedy had hit home.

The two moved, standing back to back to fight as the next wave of Turok-Han approached, snarling and with fangs already dripping with blood.

"There's too many of them."

"Keep fighting," Faith instructed, gritting her teeth as one of the vamps caught her blade in its claws. It shoved, trying to knock her off her feet, but she dug her heels into the ground and pushed back.

"Can you see how many we've lost," Faith asked. She was towards the back of the basement, near the seal, and not facing the stairway they'd entered from.

"Can't tell," Kennedy answered back, and Faith could hear her grunting with effort to fight back the vampires approaching them from her side. "Roslin's dead. Dominique and Chao-Ahn are down and bleeding. Faith, there's so many."

"Keep. Fighting," Faith growled, bumping her hip against Kennedy.

"Willow's spell isn't working yet, we aren't strong enough."

Growling in anger, Faith slashed her sword clean through the neck of the übervamps she was trying to hold off and partially through the one standing next to it, which staggered away from her in pain. Then she turned, grabbing Kennedy by the shoulders and spinning her around so they were face to face.

The Potential's brow was bleeding, a gash cut deep into her forehead. Her eyes were wide with terror. "You listen to me," Faith said, barking out her words and shaking Kennedy slightly. "We don't know how long the spell will take, so don't you fucking dare give in yet."

"We aren't strong Faith, not like you and Buffy."

"Kennedy," she yelled back, "You are one of the strongest girls here. You're a leader to them, you know you are. If you give up now I'll kill you myself."

Kennedy spun out of her grasp, ducking as Faith whirled on one of the ancient vampires trying to sneak up on them. Her sword hit home, slicing through thick hide right to its heart. But her blade was neither a stake nor the magical scythe, so the injury did little more than send the demon staggering to the floor.

Pulling her sword from the demon's chest, she turned back to Kennedy, "Don't give in. You want to be a Slayer? You damn well keep fighting until the spell works and turns you into one, you hear me?"

Her words seemed to knock some sense into Kennedy, who nodded grimly and turned on the nearest übervamp.

Taking a brief second, Faith surveyed the damage. Spike was in full vamp mode, trying to decapitate an übervamp with his bare hands. A few of the girls were down and not moving; many of them were bleeding but still fighting back.

She couldn't spot Buffy, but what she did see made her brain malfunction for a moment. The group of Potentials fighting near the base of the stairs were being driven down by a whole pack of übervamps, while more pushed past and made their way up the stairs.

The battle wasn't contained to the basement any longer. And there was still no sign of the Bringers, or any of The First's other demons. Giles, Xander and Anya probably already had their hands full as it was. If too many of the übervamps got out of the basement…

With Willow's face flashing through her mind Faith threw herself forward, intent on helping the Potentials near the stairwell from letting any more of the vampires past.

She only got half way across the basement before the pain exploded across her side. An übervamp had collided with her, claws first, and knocked her to the ground. She screamed as its claws sliced into her, tearing her flesh to ribbons. Her sword was a few feet away, knocked from her hands when the beast impacted her.

"Get off me, you fucker," she yelled, trying to buck her body and throw it off her. The übervamp only snarled in response, claws digging deeper and pulling her apart from the inside out. She screamed in pain, its clawed hands feeling like they were gripping her ribs and trying to pull them from her body, shredding and ripping at her stomach.

_Keep fighting._

She bit through the pain, ignoring the tangy taste of blood in her mouth, and managed to pull one of her knives free from where she'd stashed the pair on her hip. "Get, off," she huffed, plunging it into one of its eyes.

The creature howled in pain, leaning back and letting go of her. That was enough for Faith throw the demon from her and slash into its neck. Her knife blade was smaller than the sword had been, so it took more effort to slide it all the way across and decapitate it, but once she had she collapsed back on the floor, breathing heavily. It felt like every inch of her shredded flesh was on fire.

_Get up,_ she growled at herself. _You need to get up._

She staggered to her feet, trying to convince herself the wound wasn't as bad as it looked. The skin around her ribs and the side of her stomach was ripped and bloody, but there wasn't a gaping hole in her body, so that was good enough.

Or so she convinced herself.

She looked up towards the exit from the basement. It seemed like it was miles away from her.

_Keep going,_ something inside her threatened, not liking her standing so still.

She moved a few steps forward, bending to pick up her sword. It was covered in blood and dust by this point, but the hilt was still clean enough for her to have a strong grip on it.

The sounds of the battle raged on around her, screams and cries and snarls. She'd had her moment to catch her breath; it was time to start fighting again.

One of the Potentials near her shoved an übervamp away from them and towards her; Faith speared it through the back, then pulled her sword out and sliced across its throat, causing it to explode into dust.

When the dust cleared, she had enough time to blink and then scream a warning, "Tenisha, behind-"

The girl was mauled from behind, brought to the ground easily with the force of the demon's attack. Faith charged forward, sword sliding into the creature's gut where it was crouching over the girl. It snarled, trying to leap at Faith, but only further impaled itself on her weapon. She yanked her blade free and, just like before, sliced through its neck, killing it.

She dropped to her knees next to the Potential. Blood was seeping freely from the wound in her back, but Faith could see right away the girl was dead.

Faith stood, and, turning to survey the state of the basement once more, felt everything around her freeze.

Caleb stood a few feet away, arms outstretched and chanting like a madman. He was bleeding freely, a wound across his stomach and arm from where he'd no doubt fought with Buffy. But Buffy was nowhere to be seen, and the wounds seemed not to faze Caleb.

A blonde figure stood behind the man, but Faith knew instinctively that it was The First, not Buffy. It was dressed in the same outfit as the Slayer, had the same posture as the Slayer, and the bloodstains on its clothes more than likely matched Buffy's. But Faith knew it was The First.

"Faith, down!"

She dropped instantly, narrowly missing the axe the real Buffy threw across the basement that implanted itself into whatever was coming up behind Faith. She felt the explosion of dust, knowing Buffy had hit the übervamp dead-on.

Standing across the room from each other, the Slayers shared a look, not liking what they knew was about to happen. It fought against every instinct inside her, the Slayer within snarled and clawed savagely, trying to gain control to force Faith forward to fight, but she made her body stand still.

As one, Faith and Buffy looked back at Caleb and The First. Caleb was still chanting, a maniacal smile stretched across his face. The First, still in Buffy's form, was smirking as it too outstretched its arms, beginning to disintegrate into a black mist.

_Stand still,_ Faith screamed at herself, feeling her body trying to reach forward, to stop what was happening. It took every ounce of will-power to hold still and not tackle Caleb to the ground before the ritual was complete.

The black mist swelled, reaching up towards the ceiling before swooping down and into Caleb.

Caleb was the vessel of The First. The two were merging.

The First was going to take its true form.

Everything inside her was telling Faith that letting this happen, that letting The First reach full power, was the stupidest thing they could do. Because once it was at full power, it would crush them.

But it was their only shot.

* * *

"_Our power becomes their power," Buffy explained to the Scoobies where they were gathered in the basement. "We use the natural magic connection that runs through us and blast it with the power of the scythe to Call everyone in the line as Slayers. We make them all strong, and we fight, and we win."_

_Anya looked pale. "That's the plan?"_

_Buffy nodded in confirmation. "That's the plan. What do you think?"_

"_That depends," Xander said, smiling. "Are you in any way… kidding."_

"_Nope. We Call the girls, make them strong, fight back The First's army, and we win."_

"_And what about The First?" Spike asked, leaning casually against one of the basement support beams, flicking the lighter in his hand open and closed repeatedly. _

"_Spike's right," Giles started. "Calling the girls will make them strong enough to fight against the Turok-Han, but how do we defeat The First itself."_

"_Oh," Buffy said, smiling. "I got that too."_

"_You gonna share with the class, B?"_

"_Caleb."_

"_What?" more than one of them asked._

"_I've been thinking about this, since Faith and I woke from the Slayer dream Willow guided us into reliving. In it he said something funny. He said when the time was right, that The First would take on its true form." Buffy looked to Faith, hoping she'd remember._

_The words were vaguely familiar, so Faith nodded in agreement. Buffy continued, "And Caleb said that he would serve The First, body and soul, when it took on its true and corporal form. I had to think about it for a little while, but I think I figured out exactly what Caleb's role in all of this is."_

"_He's a vessel," Giles said, his voice sounding awed. "He… he's going to allow The First to overtake his body and become corporeal. That's," he looked at Buffy, eyes wide, "That's why he's so strong. The First is lending him its abilities, preparing his body to contain The First's full power."_

_Buffy nodded._

"_How are we going to stop it?"_

_Buffy looked at Faith, smiling, "That one was your idea, actually."_

"_What?" Faith asked. At what point in time had she come up with a way to defeat The First when it was in its true form? "Buffy, if we let it merge with preacher-man, the thing will be touchable, yeah, but it's also going to be super-juiced."_

"_Faith's right," Xander agreed, "It's going to be invincible."_

"_No," Buffy said, shaking her head. "It's not." She looked at Faith, "Do you remember the first time we shared a Slayer dream?"_

_Faith did. It was right after Buffy had put her in a coma, that Slayer dream was the beginning of the nightmares that had plagued Faith for eight months, trapped inside her own mind while her body lay immobile. No, she didn't forget that dream._

_She flinched at the memory, of Buffy's knife sliding into her gut, but she knew that wasn't what Buffy was meaning to bring up. "A bit," she offered. "Before we started making that bed over and over again, right?"_

_Buffy nodded. "Faith, in that dream, you told me how to defeat the Mayor."_

"_She what?" Andrew asked._

"_Long story we're not getting into right now," Buffy answered, not looking away from Faith. "Before the Mayor transformed, he was invincible, like The First is now. But once he transformed, he was vulnerable to attack. You were the one that old us that, to go after his human weakness."_

"_So, The First has a human weakness?" Xander asked, looking hopeful._

"_No," Faith said, catching on. She didn't like Buffy's plan, but what choice did they have? "She means, we go about this the same way you guys did before. Let The First merge with Caleb. It will be more powerful, but it will mean we can touch it. And if we can touch it, we can kill it. It's most vulnerable in its true form."_

* * *

The black mist bore down into the preacher, seeping into his body. Caleb screamed, but Faith couldn't tell if the scream was because he was in pain, or if he took some sort of sick pleasure out of letting a demon take over his body.

She shivered, every sense in her body flinching back as the two beings merged and a darkness swept across the basement. It paralyzed her. The darkness she had felt the last time she was in here, when those ancient demons had touched her and their dark, icy power had seeped into her? That was nothing compared to what she felt now.

The First was the ultimate evil, the original darkness to try and take over. And it lived up to its title. Every cell in her body felt it, the beast's dark power. It reached out and gripped her tight, freezing her where she stood.

Caleb kept screaming, but the sound took on a new dimension, a painful moan underneath a high pitched shriek, like a kettle burning so hot it begins to whistle and scream. And Faith began to pick up the even fainter noises, the hissing and popping and cracking, like coals in a fire burning too hot. She watched, transfixed, as Caleb's body began to hiss and snap as it grew, expanding and swelling with The First's power.

His body began to distort, changing and shifting as The First took over, turning Caleb's body into its true form. And it grew; its legs and chest were expanding, growing bigger with muscles, yes, but it was the size that was getting to Faith.

When the beast's head began to reach the ceiling and didn't stop, Faith realized this thing was going to be _big._ It was going to grow right through the ceiling and keep going, a monster in true size. She locked eyes with Buffy, who looked just as freaked out as Faith was feeling.

When the plaster above them began to crack and The First kept growing, Buffy yelled for all the Potentials to fall back and get out of the basement. The ceiling was going to collapse on them for sure.

Faith tried to convince herself that they were simply relocating where the battle was going to happen, not retreat and head for the hills. As scary as this thing was becoming, they had to keep fighting.

It was difficult to rein the Slayer inside her in, it wanted to throw itself against The First with everything it had, but Faith controlled it. They had to get out of the basement before it caved in on them.

The girls were already listening to Buffy's calls, trying to break away from the attacking übervamps and get up the stairs. She and Buffy both reached the stairwell at the same time, ushering the girls from the basement and running up the stairs themselves just as the first chunk of plaster began to fall around The Frist's stooped form.

The moment Buffy's feet hit the main floor she screamed, "Everybody outside!" and began trying to lead the girls out through the nearest exit.

The main floor, thought clearly not as bloody as the basement was, still showed signs of the fight, mainly in the form of the dead demons scattered on the floor. Xander, Giles and Anya, and any of the girls that had fallen back to help, clearly had had their hands full. She could make out dead Bringers, a few of the shadowy demons, and one of the boar demons, lying bleeding on the floor but clearly not fully dead.

She could see Giles up ahead. He was badly wounded, and being supported by Xander as they made their way down the hall. A dying Bringer was coming up behind them. Faith didn't hesitate as she unsheathed the other knife on her hip and threw it. It landed square in the back of the Bringer's skull, and it dropped to the ground instantly.

Xander turned, catching her eye from across the hall. Clearly he hadn't even known the Bringer was coming up behind him and Giles. "Buffy said get outside. What's going on?"

Faith jogged a few steps forward, easily catching up with them. "The First. It's splittin' the school in half as it mosterafies itself."

"Pleasant," Giles said, face pale and tight with pain.

"Get him outside," she instructed. "Where's Anya and Willow?"

"I don't know," Xander said, eyes flicking up and down the hall nervously. They all needed to get outside, and fast. "We were swarmed, I don't know what happened to them."

"Go," she said, giving him a rather unfriendly shove forward and she turned, racing back down the hallway, trying to find the principal's office, where Willow and Anya had been when the battle started.

Her Slayer sense barely gave her time to register the tingle before she instinctively leapt out of the way, the bank of lockers near her exploding outward and the ceiling above crashing down.

"Willow!" She kept running as the school began to collapse around her. This had been a stupid idea. Letting The First grow to full form? What the hell had Buffy been thinking? "Willow!"

She heard a cough from just further down the hallway. "Faith?"

It wasn't Willow's voice, but she ran anyway. Skidding to a stop, she found Anya, her lower half trapped under some rubble. On top of the rubble was another one of the boar demons, an axe implanted right between its eyes.

"You took that thing on by yourself?" Faith asked, immediately going to try and shove the demon off the blonde.

"I didn't have much choice, thank you very much. It attacked when the doorframe fell on me, jumped on me and nearly ripped my throat out."

Grunting with effort, Faith managed to roll the dead demon off the girl. "Nice hit," she said, nodding at where it axe was implanted in the beast's skull before removing the debris and freeing the blonde.

Anya managed to get to her feet on her own, but she was shaking and bleeding. "Thanks," she said, face ghosting a smile.

"Come on," Faith said, grabbing her arm. "We need to motor."

She dragged Anya into the nearest classroom, hoping to find a window to escape from. "Willow?" she asked the girl as she left her to lean against one of the desks while she went about busting the nearest window open.

"I don't know where she went. We were attacked; they came at us from everywhere." Anya said, blinking and trying to focus on Faith. "She didn't get to the spell, but she's not in Robin's office any-"

Faith lunged forward as the ceiling started to fall, tugging Anya from where she'd been standing and throwing them through the broken window. They both landed hard on the pavement outside, Anya letting out a little cry of pain, but Faith was already on her feet and dragging Anya away from the collapsing building.

When she had gotten them far enough away that nothing was going to fall on them and crush them, Faith let herself drop to the ground, Anya falling partially on top of her.

"Thanks."

Faith nodded mutely, her head swimming. She could feel the blood seeping out of the wound the übervamp had given her. It hurt. It wasn't a deep wound, but the skin had been shredded and there was blood and a hell of a lot of pain to go with it. She felt dizzy and tired and sleep seemed like such a good thing.

"Wake up!" Anya yelled, leaning over Faith and slapping her. "No way am I letting you die after you go and save my life, you completely messed up psychopath."

Faith opened her eyes again, focusing on Anya hovering above her. She could still hear the sounds of the school collapsing further, combined with screams and snarls and the sound of metal clanging against metal. The battle was far from over.

"Get up!" Anya yelled again, standing and grabbing Faith's arms, clearly intent on getting Faith to her feet. Faith complied, managing to get her feet under her. She swayed, but Anya grabbed onto her, steadying her until she could stand on her own. "Are you good now?" she asked, sounding a little annoyed.

_No_,Faith thought. _Not at all._ "Yeah," she said thickly, her voice feeling scratchy from all the dust – übervamp and collapsing plaster – she'd breathed in. "I'm good. Thanks."

Anya nodded, clearly impressed with herself. "How long were we in there?"

"No idea," Faith answered. It felt like hours. Her body was exhausted, running only on adrenalin and Slayer willpower, but the fight in the basement couldn't have lasted that long. "Why?"

"I'm pretty sure it was sunny out when we entered the school," Anya answered, looking straight up.

"Oh, shit."

The sky, once sunny and bright and their weapon against keeping all The First's demons inside the school, was not how they left it. Dark and magical clouds swirled overhead, blocking out the sun. They were nearly indigo in colour, thick and dark and completely dimming the light overhead. The whole area above the demolished school was bathed in shadows.

And standing in the middle of what was once the high school, roaring loud enough to make windows rattle, was The First. It was massive, looking down on them all in amusement as it created the darkness above them, allowing its followers to chase the Scoobies outside and keep attacking.

"Faith. Faith, I do not like the look of that thing."

Faith nodded her head, agreeing. No, that thing, The First's true form, was probably one of the most terrifying things Faith had ever seen.

"It's a good thing," Anya continued, "that no one's around to see this, because I think even the good citizens of Sunnydale would have a hard time rationalizing _that._"


	66. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

So, this was what Willow remembered.

She remembered knowing the exact minute the battle started, feeling something settle deep inside her, letting her know the fighting right below her feet had begun.

She remembered hearing Xander and Giles outside, fighting as a pack of The First's minions had attacked everyone on the upper floor.

She remembered Anya's scream.

And she remembered the three Bringers charging into Robins' office, blades held high, as they attacked her. She knew she must have screamed, grabbing the scythe as tightly has she could, both to use as a weapon and to keep them from getting their hands on it.

At one point she ended up on the ground, one of the Bringers pressing a knife against her throat. She had tried to draw up the magic inside her, to try and push the Bringer off, but she'd choked, too terrified to be able to wield the magic properly.

She had been partway through a spell when she'd blacked out, and that in itself probably lead to disastrous results; channelling the power up through her and then simply letting go without telling it what to do.

Willow didn't know exactly how she had ended up outside, leaning against a tree a few dozen yards away from Robin's office, but it probably had something to do with Minh and Molly, who were standing near her, panting and covered in dirt and blood.

"We have to fight that thing?" Molly asked, looking up at what Willow assumed was The First.

The demon was at least twelve feet tall, massive and intimidating and leering down at them. The only thing that came to mind for Willow when looking at it was Greek mythology. Specifically the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur.

The creature was big; thick and muscular and with horns larger than Willow herself. It stood in the rubble of the school, snorting and snarling, as a thick fog leaked from its hands. The fog drifted upward, covering the sky above them with a thick black film, and throwing everything around them into shadows.

"Kill them," it roared, voice deep and menacing, as it called to the übervamps, giving them the protection from the sun they needed to continue fighting the Scoobies and the Potentials outside.

Willow felt her whole body trembling, because that? That was a big demon.

That was the biggest, and probably the most terrifying demon she had ever seen.

And being best friends with the Slayer? She had seen a lot of demons.

"Come on," Minh said, picking up the scythe and pushing it into Willow's hands. "We have to help them."

Molly shook her head, eyes wide as she stared in fear at The First. "No… no, we… we can't beat that."

"You heard what Buffy said," Minh insisted. "We have to keep fighting. We can't let it win."

She was right, of course. They had to keep fighting. They couldn't let The First win, couldn't let it spread its evil and take over. They had to stop it.

Willow just needed to get over the fear gripping her, freezing her in place, and then she'd be good.

When The First took its first step, out of the rubble and debris at its feet; that was what threw Willow into action. She took off, leaving Minh to deal with the petrified Molly. She had to find Faith. She couldn't do this without Faith.

"Willow, run!"

Buffy was running toward her, a determined look on her face. Willow didn't think, didn't dare look over her shoulder, simply pushed harder, running towards Buffy as fast as she could. She held out the scythe, and Buffy grabbed it as she continued move, slicing into _something_ that had been right behind Willow.

"Thanks," Willow panted, still refusing to look at whatever it was that Buffy had just killed. Knowing something had been about to take a bite out of her was enough, she didn't need to see its gory corpse.

"You okay?" Buffy asked, breathing heavily while looking her over for any physical damage.

Willow knew there was a gash in her upper arm, but other than that, she wasn't injured. "I'm okay."

"The spell?" After assessing that Willow wasn't hurt she began glancing back and forth, making sure nothing was going to sneak up on them while they tried to get their bearings.

"Got interrupted. I… I don't know what happened, I blacked out when a bunch of Bringers came at me. Molly and Minh got me out."

Buffy nodded, "A few of the girls fell back to help out upstairs when the übervamps started slipping past us. Xander held them off as long as he could, but after Giles went down, he probably appreciated the help."

"Giles?"

"One of the Bringers, it got him pretty bad. Anya's with him, trying to stop the bleeding."

"Faith?" Willow asked, a little afraid of what she was going to hear. Everyone was spread out in front of the school, fighting the demons and trying not to get hit by The First, but she hadn't been able to spot Faith.

"She got Anya out before the roof caved in. They're over there, come on." Securing her grip on the scythe she took off, leaving Willow with no option but to follow.

Buffy led them towards the parking lot at the side of the school. The First stood in the middle of the pavement, leering down as the Potentials tried to fight back against the übervamps. Running as close as she dared, Buffy pulled a sword from one of the fallen Bringers and hurled it at The First.

The blade implanted in The First's cheek, but the creature reached up and swatted it away before glaring down at Buffy.

"Stupid girl," it roared. Its eyes were like black pits, boring down into Buffy. "You think you can defeat me with your mere metal weapons?"

Buffy gritted her teeth. "I can try."

"Demons of the underworld, surrender yourself to me, so I might take down this pathetic excuse for a hero."

Willow was about to look around to see exactly what was going to happen, when something collided with her. She flinched instinctively, about to shove whatever it was off of her, when she felt strong arms wrap around her. "Faith?" she asked hesitantly.

The Slayer sagged against her for a moment before stepping back, keeping her hands clasped in Willows. "Red, you're okay."

Willow nodded, "Yeah, I… Faith, you're bleeding." One of her hands dropped Faith's, gently reaching out towards the wound on Faith's side. Her shirt was matted and covered in dirt and blood, but Willow could easily see the shredded skin lying underneath. Her fingers skimmed along Faith's stomach, careful not to touch the wound where it wrapped itself around her torso. "Oh Goddess, Faith."

"I'm okay," the brunette insisted roughly. "Just a scratch."

Willow let her hands skim a little closer to the wound and Faith flinched. She winced in pain, but Willow caught her before she fell. She shifted Faith until the Slayer was leaning against her, an arm weakly wrapped around Willow's back. She didn't like how pale Faith was beginning to look. "Faith, that isn't-"

"We've got bigger things to worry about, Red. Look,"

Willow followed Faith's gaze, gasping at what she saw. The creatures all around them, übervamps and Bringers alike, were beginning to disintegrate, turning into a black dust and being sucked into The First's open mouth.

"Oh, no."

"That's nasty," Faith said flatly. "That is so nasty."

"It's absorbing their power. It's making itself stronger by killing them all." She turned, looking towards Buffy standing just a few steps away. "Buffy, we have to do something!"

Buffy was staring straight ahead, shaking her head slightly. "No."

"Buffy," Willow yelled, holding Faith more securely against her. "Buffy, what do we do?"

The other Potentials were gathering around The First, drawn near as the creatures they were fighting began disappearing. They formed a loose circle around The First, spread out and keeping a wary distance from it. As the last of the demons disintegrated The First began laughing, a deep, booming sound that rattled Willow to her bones. Over the sound, she could still hear Buffy and watched as the blonde took a step back, eyes wide and worried.

"No, no that isn't true."

"Buffy!"

"I tried, you know I tried. I didn't mean to let you down."

Willow shifted Faith away from her, making sure the other Slayer was secure on her feet before taking a careful step towards Buffy. "Red," Faith gritted out, "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. Buffy, Buffy what's going on?"

Willow registered Carmen, a third of the way along the loose formation of girls from where Willow was standing, drop to her knees, screaming and holding her head in pain. She could hear Jessie, crying and pleading with something too, but Willow ignored them, focusing only on Buffy.

"Buffy, please, look at me" Willow begged, not understanding what was going on, "Tell me what's wrong."

"No," Buffy screamed, tears beginning to run down her face, "No, I protected her. You know I protected her. You can't say that."

"Willow," Faith said from behind her. "She's lost it. We have to do this without her."

"How?" Willow asked, turning towards Faith for a moment. "Faith, how are we supposed to do this without her? Something's wrong. She's-"

"Mom, please, don't say that."

Willow whirled around, eyes wide. Buffy was standing there, tears falling as she pleaded with something Willow couldn't see. But she knew it couldn't be The First; it was corporeal now, it couldn't take on the form of the dead. And it was clearly standing right there, looking down on them as it absorbed the last of its army and began to darken the sky above them further.

"Buffy, Joyce isn't there. Listen to me, please."

Buffy didn't seem to hear her. "No," she screamed, "No, I didn't fail you, you can't say that. I took care of Dawn, I did everything I could to protect her!"

"Buffy, please," Willow begged, walking forward and trying to lay a hand on the blonde's arm, trying to break her out of whatever trace she was stuck in. "Buffy-"

The moment her skin touched the Slayer's the other girl whirled, leaping back and turning to look right at Willow. "I didn't fail you," she insisted, looking Willow right in the eyes, "I'm still your daughter. I did everything I could."

Willow felt an icy cold grip her, seeing Buffy look so distraught. She was looking right through Willow, screaming at whatever it was that only she could see.

"I had to, Mom. I had to. I'm the Slayer, that's who I am. I tried my hardest to keep her safe, to keep her out of danger. I died to keep her safe." Her hands were clenched at her sides, fists going white with how hard she was squeezing them. "Please, Mom, no."

"Buffy," Willow tried again, determined to break Buffy out of it. "She isn't there, it's all inside your head."

"I didn't mean to fail you, I didn't mean to," Buffy repeated. "You, and Dawn, and all my friends. I didn't mean to fail you. I tried. But I can't do this, I can't win this time, I'm not strong enough to be the Slayer."

All around Willow could head the other girls beginning to start it too, screaming and crying and begging. She didn't know what was going on, only that she had to convince Buffy it wasn't real.

"Buffy, listen to me," she tried, "please. It isn't real. That isn't Joyce, she isn't real."

"It is real though, for her."

Every word on the redhead's tongue died with the sound of the new voice.

"As far as she's concerned, she really is speaking with Joyce."

A chill began to spread inside Willow, its frozen grip beginning along her skin and spiraling down inside her, gripping her lungs and heart with frozen claws. It squeezed, choking off her air and stopping her heart. It burned, it was so cold it burned inside her, rubbing her raw and leaving her gasping, trying to draw in air.

_No._

She turned slowly, knowing she wasn't prepared for this.

"There's my girl. I've missed you."

She stood only a few steps away. Her eyes as bright as ever, hair soft and silky and reflecting off the sunlight that Willow knew wasn't there. Her smile was soft, lips curled slightly with fondness.

The bloodstain was still there; the dark red smear placed directly above her heart.

"Tara."

"So you haven't forgotten me then. I was beginning to wonder."

"Tara, no, I could never…"

"Are you sure, Willow?" Tara frowned. "I think you may have begun to forget me."

"Tara, baby," Willow pleaded, her voice raw and weak, "I could never forget you."

"So sleeping with her then, what was that?"

"Tara, I didn't-"

"Didn't what?" Tara asked, her voice light, the accusation in her voice hardly there at all. "I remember everything you told me about her, Willow. That she's evil, wrong, a killer. Did that suddenly change?"

"No, Tara, it isn't like that."

Her eyes narrowed, "How is it like, then? She's still the same person, still a murderer, still evil. Is it you that's different now? Is that it?"

Willow shook her head, pleading with Tara to stop. But Tara wouldn't stop.

"It isn't that she's different, that she's changed and seen the light, it's that you have. You can fall into bed with her, touch her and love her and cry out her name, because you're the one that's changed."

Tara shook her head sadly, "I tried to warn you, Willow. I tried to save you, to make you see, to understand. But you wouldn't listen. And now look at where you are. A killer. A demon. A slave to the darkness inside you."

"Tara, it isn't like that. You know it isn't like that."

"So, what? Knowing you became evil because of me, because I died, that's supposed to comfort me?"

Willow could feel the tears stinging as she tried to make the other girl understand. "I was in pain," she insisted. "I was dying inside because you were taken from me. I couldn't control it. I lost control because I loved you and you were gone."

"You lost control," Tara said lowly, "Because you were dabbling into magic you knew you shouldn't. You lost control because you played with fire, Willow. Fire burns. You knew what was going to happen, but you did it anyway."

"No, please."

Tara shook her head, a laugh breaking free of her lips. The sound was hard and sharp and unlike anything Willow had ever heard the girl make. "You became a slave to the evil inside you, Willow. You're no better than a demon, than any of the demons we fought to keep this world safe. And that darkness inside you, it isn't gone."

"I know it isn't," Willow cried, falling to her knees, "But I'm trying. I'm learning, you know I am. I learned how to keep it all down, to control the darkness, to keep it from taking over again. I did it for you!"

"You didn't do it for me," Tara said sadly, shaking her head. "You did it so your friends would take you back, so they'd still love you, after everything you did." She tisked, "And you don't have control, Willow. I can see it. I can see all the dark power coiling inside you, ready to snap and break free. You only think you can control it, but that isn't the case. You can't control it, Willow. You're a slave to your own darkness."

"No," Willow pleaded, clawing her hands into the ground, ignoring the pain that sprung to her fingers. She needed Tara to believe her. Tara was always the one that believed in her. "Tara, no."

"It's true, Willow. I don't know who you are anymore, but you aren't the girl I fell in love with."

"I'm still me," Willow insisted tearfully, getting to her feet and moving forward. She grabbed Tara's hands in her own. "I'm still me, I'm still Willow. I still love you, Tara. Please, take me back."

"I can't," Tara said, stepping back and pulling her hands from Willow's grasp. "I can't, Willow. Because I can see how this is going to end."

Her vision was getting blurry with her tears, but Willow pressed on. "How what's going to end?"

"This," Tara said, spreading her arms wide, "This battle, this fight. The demon up there," she said, nodding her head upwards. "I can see how it ends."

Tara's face darkened, eyes narrowing and holding a hatred Willow had never seen before. "You're going to kill them all, Willow. That darkness inside you? It's going to bubble up and take over. You're going to destroy the world because you can't handle the power inside you anymore."

"No, no that isn't true!" Willow cried. That couldn't be how this ended. There had to be another way. There had to be. It couldn't end like this, not after they'd all worked so hard.

"Yes," Tara said, shaking her head sadly at Willow. "All your friends, you're going to kill them. You can't control the magic inside you."

"Yes, I can, I know I can."

"Then it's your own death sentence, Willow. Say goodbye to everyone you love."

"No," she begged, voice hitching with her tears, "No, Tara, please."

"Your friends' love saved you once, Willow, but it won't save you a second time."


	67. October 13, 1998

_**October 13, 1998**_

She could feel the bus slowing down.

Faith sat up in her seat. She'd been slouching down, lazily looking out the window and watching the scenery go by. There wasn't a whole lot else for her to do. Sleep, or watch the world fly past.

She reached up, adjusting the sunglasses on her face. She'd picked them up at the last rest stop – some mother had been wearing them and put them down on the bench as she chased after her way-ward toddler. And didn't come back for them.

Finders keepers, right?

Shaking her dark mane, Faith looked around the bus as it rolled to a stop. Only about half the seats were occupied, most by young couples or elderly people. She was the only teenager on the bus. Which wasn't a big surprise. It was October, kiddies were supposed to be back in school by this point.

She stood up, lifting her duffle bag from the rack and shouldered it. She nodded at the driver as she passed, jumping down the steps.

Sunnydale, California.

A little beach town a few hours north of L.A. The bus station was pretty dismal looking. The woman behind the counter inside the building looked so bored she could pass for dead.

Faith let her eyes roam the inside of the station. There was a vending machine on the far wall, near the washrooms. She decided to pass. As amazing as a bar of chocolate would taste at this point, Faith decided to wait her hunger out, maybe find a diner or a sub and sandwich shop.

She had money, but was trying to be as sparing as possible. A trip across the country sucked a lot out of a girl who didn't have a whole lot to begin with.

She did stop in the washroom to cup some water into her hands to drink from the tap. Cool and refreshing and enough to wake her up from a long, long bus ride.

Coming out of the washroom, Faith made her way over to the counter, getting the name and location of the cheapest motel in town the old, decaying woman could recommend. She knew she'd be going to some place seedy, but Faith had developed the skill from a young age of being able to sleep anywhere. Staying in grungy apartments of Lara's boyfriends-of-the-week when she'd skipped out on her own rent, unpleasant stays in a variety of foster homes, and recently, sleeping in boxcars as she snuck onto cargo trains; Faith was used to it by this point.

Also, again, there was the dwindling money issue.

Faith then wandered over to the bank of pay phones. Stepping up to one and lifting the directory book up onto the counter from where it was dangling on its chain, Faith began flipping through the pages. It didn't take long. There was only one entry with the last name she was looking for.

_Summers, Joyce._

With the name was an address and phone number. Faith knew this had to be what she was looking for. The girl she needed to find, Buffy, would be around her age. So this Joyce must be the chick's mother.

Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer.

As in, the other one. The one that died and came back.

Faith didn't have a whole lot of knowledge about this girl. All she knew was what Diana had heard from the Watcher's Council. Blonde, petite, a high school student. Named _Buffy._ What miserable life did this poor girl lead walking around with the name Buffy?

The recent Slayer history Faith did know was that the girl had kicked it a few years ago, passed on the Slayer line, and then came back. Apparently it was a case of 'God bless the high school curriculum for teaching CPR.' She'd passed on the line to Kendra Young, a Jamaican girl who'd died a few months back at the hands of some whack-job lady-vamp. And then came Faith, who had had only a few months of training – both as a Potential and as an actual Slayer – before her Watcher had died and Faith had been left alone.

Faith hadn't waited around for the nasty vampire who'd killed Diana to come looking for her, she'd skipped town and been on the run ever since. And she'd slowly been making her way westward, towards the only other person in the world who had a chance of understanding her.

Buffy. The other Slayer.

Faith had lost contact with the Watcher's Council the moment Diana died. She hadn't waited long enough for some of England's finest to hop on a plane and come and find her before Kakistos did. She hit the ground running and didn't look back.

Diana was the only Watcher she knew, and the only person she trusted. And, though she didn't trust or know any of them personally, Diana had trusted the people she worked and associated with. So as tribute to the woman, Faith was making her way towards the other Slayer, hoping she and her Watcher would know what to do.

Diana had spoken about her a few times, the other girl. How great she was. And it hadn't been that hard for Faith to forget, really. Her name was _Buffy_ for God's sake, and she lived in a California town called _Sunnydale_. Buffy _Summers_ of _Sunny_dale. Easy to remember and make her way towards.

Finding Sunnydale on a map had been a little more difficult. But Faith had always been good at geography.

So here she was, two and a half months later – she'd taken her time, it wasn't like she was in a rush – in the town that housed the world's only other Slayer.

Faith had no idea if this Buffy girl was expecting her, or even knew she existed. She had no idea if the Council was looking for her or had any idea where she was. But would it be obvious that she'd make her way to Buffy? Did they even know if she was alive and kicking?

She'd find out soon enough. Scribbled directions to the motel in hand – Buffy's address was also written on the paper – Faith left the bus station and entered the town of Sunnydale.

_God, what a stupid name._

* * *

The motel was, surprisingly, not as bad as it could have been. It was bad, but Faith had been envisioning much worse. But it had a bed, running water, and a TV. And it was cheap.

After she'd settled in and unpacked – shockingly that hadn't taken all too long, what with her only having one bag of belongings with her – Faith had decided to explore the town. She'd found Buffy's house fast enough, but hadn't bothered knocking. It was just after noon, the girl was bound to still be in school, her mother at work.

So Faith toured the town. And done a little splurge shopping. She'd been wearing the same handful of clothes during her months-long hike here, she figured she deserved a little reward. A reward, because she'd done the right thing, right? Diana had died and Faith was now a Slayer without a Watcher. So she'd gone and found the only other Slayer and Watcher she knew existed. She'd been a good little girl and decided to find someone responsible.

Sure, the faster way would have been to contact the Council – which she had done, but she'd been a little freaked at the time and with a nasty cloven-footed vampire breaking down the door just down the hall.

For such a small town, Faith rationed as she slipped into a pizza place for dinner, there sure as hell were a lot of cemeteries and churches. There was probably a reason for it. A reason connected to why the other Slayer was living in some isolated little place when she could be living in a big city only a few hours away.

Faith really, really would have preferred to meet up with this girl in a big city. Boston was her home. This little place? Nowhere near as thrilling. It had one shopping mall. One.

It did have a factory district though – natural vampire hangout. Rather than going back to Buffy's place and introducing herself on the doorstep – awkward – she figured she'd wander around the area and a few of the cemeteries after dark and hopefully run into the other girl when she was out doing her rounds.

And then she'd found the club. Oops.

And then she'd found a vampire. Score.

Was this guy seriously trying to pick up girls, leave with them, and then suck them dry in the alley-way outside? What happened to hiding in the shadows and snatching people off the streets? Was dancing your way into a meal really the way the vampires did it in this place?

"This music's swinging, innit?"

Faith gaped at him for a moment, resisting the urge to grab a pool cue and stab him then and there. The vampires she was used to back home were actually scary creatures.

"Excuse me?"

He frowned, "I said, the music here's swinging, wouldn't you say?"

There was no questioning that he was a vampire. She could feel the tug in her belly telling her so; it was like a natural homing device.

"Wanna dance?"

This was really just unbelievable. The first vampire she runs into in the Slayer's town, and this guy was it?

Either it meant the girl was good and killed all the nasties, and only the lame ones were left. Or it meant the town was so pathetic that even the vampires were depressing.

"Sure," she said, giving him a sultry look. Better to distract him than let him wander off to bite some poor innocent girl. Then she'd beat him at his own game. Lure him outside and do in with him, instead of the other way around.

She was just slipping into her dance mood when she felt it. A stronger, more insistent tug. She looked around, trying to figure out what it was and where it was coming from. She felt something inside her rumble, reacting to what she was feeling.

Slowing down her dancing, Faith tried to figure out what it was. It was strong, feeling like something was drawing her towards it.

"Did you want to take this outside?" he asked in her ear.

Faith nodded distractedly, letting the vamp sling an arm around her waist and lead her off the dance floor. She'd deal with him, and then figure out what was making her feel all tingly and weird.

She played coy, pretending to be an innocent teenager as he backed her up against the wall of the alley. He whispered hotly in her ear, his try at being sexy before he killed, her making her shiver in disgust. Faith's eyes roamed over his shoulder, looking for anything wooden she could use as a weapon. There was a stack of crates a few feet away. One good kick and she'd have a few nice splinters of wood she could use as a make-shift stake.

His hand came down on her hip – was he trying to get dinner or get laid?

"Hey, easy there," she said, pulling his hand off her.

He growled, shoving her hard against the wall. "Stop struggling, this won't hurt."

_Okay, screw playing coy,_ Faith thought, _Slayer time._

She shoved him off her and then punched him hard in the jaw. The surprised look on his face was priceless, he looked completely thrown and had no idea who he was dealing with. Then Faith went into attack mode, blocking everything else out as she set her sights on turning the vampire to dust any way possible. She knocked him down easily enough, but as she was turning towards the stack of crates she felt rather than saw the audience gathered.

_Oh great, now I have to explain why I'm beating up a guy in an alley._

_Or… not._

There was a small group of people watching her, a blonde girl standing in front. Faith knew instinctively that it was the girl that was causing her to feel a strong pull inside, a connection. There was something deep running between them.

Slayer. She'd found Buffy.

Faith was a little surprised, to say the least. She'd been expecting a blonde, athletic, teenager that would live up to the fact that she was already rewriting the Slayer history books. Instead, there was a short, small framed, blonde girl wearing a freaking _dress_ standing before her.

She'd deal with the shock of just how fragile-looking the girl was later, for now, "It's okay, I got it. You're, uh, Buffy, right?" The next few seconds passed in a blur as she slammed the vamp into a wall, got in a few nice punches, and borrowed the girl's stake to dust the bloodsucker.

Once that was finished she got a better look at the people watching her. None of them looked surprised; well, they all looked surprised, but more at her than at the vamp she'd just dealt with, so she assumed they somehow knew Buffy was a Slayer.

Tall, brunette girl in a way-to-tight red dress. The girl was looking at her like she'd just witnessed a skunk keel over and die. She practically had "I'm a snobby rich girl" stamped across her forehead. Great.

Red-blonde haired boy in an oversized tie-dye shirt and cargo pants. Massive black boots. He looked the calmest of the group, watching her with an impassive look. He was really short though, just like Buffy. Did they breed them extra-small in this town?

Meek looking red-head in a fuzzy red sweater that looked like it once could have been an Elmo doll. She was cowering slightly behind the short boy with a curious look on her face.

Tall, dark-haired boy in jeans, runners, and a jacket. He had an impressed smirk on his face that slowly grew as his eyes roamed over her. Oh fun, boy-hormones.

And Buffy, standing front and center, looking shocked as hell.

So, these were her friends then.

She got to have friends? Faith was pretty sure it was a solitary job, killing vampires. Why did this girl get to have friends? Yeah, she'd died and come back, something no other Slayer had done. Did that mean she got to completely change the rules?

Breathing heavy, she handed the stake back and tried to play it cool despite the fact that they were all gaping at her. "Thanks B, couldn't have done it without you."

They all continued to stare at her. Apparently they weren't expecting Faith to stop by. She wondered if Buffy and her Watcher even knew what had happened to Diana. Had the Counsel told her? Did she even know there was another Slayer besides herself? Diana had never mentioned Buffy's Watcher trying to contact her.

Still staring. Well, this was starting off greatly; dingy motel, tiny little Slayer with a group of actual friends, Faith herself without a real home, family, or money, and strange disco-dancing vampires. All in a town called _Sunny_dale_._

Oh, this was so going to be fun.

The redhead was kind of cute though.


	68. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55**

Faith ground her teeth together, fighting to hold back the groan of pain trying to escape her.

She'd underestimated the damage the übervamp had done to her side, the slashes stretched from her upper ribs down towards her hip, spreading across half of her stomach. The flesh was torn and ripped to ribbons, hardly there at all. And her shirt was doing a poor excuse for stopping the bleeding. The vamp had done her good.

Or maybe it was all that running, down the hall while the school was collapsing and then dragging Anya though the window that had opened the wound further. She'd overexerted herself and had blacked out a few times on Anya before she managed to stay secure on her feet long enough for the blonde to be satisfied before dragging her away from the demolished school and back towards the battle. Then she had ditched Faith to go tend to Giles while Faith was expected to throw herself back into the fight as if everything was fine and dandy.

Either way, both hands were pressed tightly against her side, trying to ease the pain as the blood seeped between her fingers.

The pain was getting to her, the adrenaline high from the fight slowly beginning to fade and letting the exhaustion and pain take over.

Faith wasn't sure exactly, but figured the spots appearing in her vision weren't a good thing.

She really wanted to lie down.

Anya wasn't anywhere near this time, maybe this time she'd be able to rest for a few minutes.

Faith swayed on her feet, but it was the sound of Willow sobbing that brought her back to herself. Turning, she saw Willow on her knees a few steps away, tears running down her cheeks and face contorted into an expression of pure agony.

Beyond Willow, Buffy was screaming, begging for forgiveness from something Faith couldn't see.

All around the girls were dropping like flies, crying and sobbing and screaming.

Faith tried to make her dizzy head focus, tried to think through the pain to understand what was going on around her. Why was Vi on the ground, curling in on herself and weeping. Why was Kennedy screaming and throwing half-hearted punches at something Faith couldn't see. Why was-

"You know, I never really expected you to live this long, if we're being honest here."

Faith turned around slowly. She was woozy, and her vision was beginning to go fuzzy from the blood leaking out of her body, but she was pretty sure she knew that voice.

"Although, looking at you right now, I don't know if you're even going to last another ten minutes."

Faith blinked repeatedly, trying to focus.

"Isabel, are you even listening to me?"

Lara was standing in front of her, looking just as Faith remembered her. Long, dark mane of hair, just like Faith's. Bloodshot eyes, narrowed in annoyance. Sallow skin stretching tightly over her body, the bones of her collarbone standing out sharply. Trampy, tight clothes meant to show off more than to conceal. It looked exactly like Lara.

It _was_ Lara.

Her image was wavering slightly, but Faith was pretty sure that was just her own head having a hard time concentrating.

"No," Faith said slowly, confused. "You're dead." Her mother was dead, she was sure of that. She wasn't sure of a whole lot of things at the moment, her head was having a really hard time trying to keep everything straight, but she was very sure that Lara was supposed to be dead.

"Oh, don't fret over the little details, Isabel. I-"

"Don't call me that," Faith snapped. She wasn't Isabel. She hadn't been Isabel for a long time.

"That's the name I gave you, that's the name I'll damn well use."

Faith shook her head, "I'm not Isabel. I'm Faith now, that's who I am."

"Pretend all you want, but I know the truth," her mother said, lips pulling back into an evil grin, "You think you're some kind of hero, don't you?"

Faith didn't answer, simply stared the woman down. She wasn't going to let her mother bully her.

"You think you're a hero, a champion of the good? You think you deserve to stand and fight among these people?" Lara asked, spreading her arms out, indicating the girls around Faith. "You really think you're worthy of them?"

"More so than you," Faith spit back.

Lara smirked, "Looks like that temper of yours is still there, what about that mouth?"

"Shut up."

"You can do better than that, _Isabel._"

"I told you not to call me that."

"Say it. You know you want to. Tell me what you think of me."

She didn't want to play her mother's games, but she couldn't help the words as they tumbled from her mouth. She was angry, she'd been angry for so long and this was her chance to let it out. "Bitch," she snarled. "You're a whore. You were a terrible mother."

"That's my girl," Lara said, face glowing with pride. "You always were the wild one. Not like Daniela, poor, sweet Daniela. She was always… well, you know how she was. Broken. Damaged. A little insane in that head of hers."

"Don't," Faith seethed. "You don't get to talk about her."

Lara smirked, crossing her arms in front of her, "Oh, is that so?"

"You don't get to say anything bad about her," Faith yelled. "Don't you dare, don't you fucking dare. You were a horrible parent. You don't get to say anything bad about her, not after what you did to us."

"She was a broken little girl, Faith. So were you, for that matter. But at least you were capable of more than using a colouring book. Daniela was damaged, not right in the head. We both know that."

"No."

"Yes, Isabel, we both know-"

"Stop calling me that."

"-that Daniela was broken inside."

"She was broken because you didn't love her. You didn't love either of us."

Lara tilted her head, "I loved you, Isabel, don't say that."

"You didn't! You didn't love us, you didn't care. You left us home alone to starve while you went out, getting high and smashed and looking for a good fuck. You left us alone to fend for ourselves. You were never a good mother."

"And you think you did better, taking care of her?"

"I did better than you ever would. I never let her down. You let Dani down each time you shoved her aside. She loved you. God knows she shouldn't have, but she loved you. More than I ever did. She loved you and she fucking believed in you and you crushed her. You let her down." She was breathing heavily by this point, eyes dark with fury. She would make this woman understand, take responsibility for what she did to Dani.

"You're one to talk, letting people down."

Faith started, lips pulling into a frown, "What are you talking about?"

"The guilt you carry inside you," Lara answered, an evil glint in her eyes. "You wear it so clearly. You can put up whatever walls you want, but I can still see through you."

"What are you talking about?" Faith growled her words again, not liking where this was going.

"Like mother like daughter. I let you down, and you let people down. Remember Diana, Faith? Remember Diana, and how you let her down?"

Faith shook her head, "I…"

"You stood there, watched them rip apart and violate her body. You stood and watched the blood, the life, poor out of her. And you did nothing."

"No, that's not true, I…"

"Don't lie to me, little girl. You stood by and watched her die and did nothing to help her."

No, no that wasn't true, Faith knew that wasn't true. "I couldn't. I was just a kid, I didn't, they would have killed me too, I didn't know how, I couldn't… there was nothing I…"

She'd still been new, she'd only been the Slayer for three months, she didn't know how to fight something like that, that monster that had killed Diana. Faith hadn't meant to let her die, but she had been so young, so new, she didn't know how to save her.

"You let her die, Faith," her mother insisted, voice harsh and commanding. "Deep down, you know you did. You carry that guilt inside you because you _know_ you could have saved her but you chose not to."

"No, no I-"

"Don't fucking try and hide it from me. I can see it, all that guilt, pooling inside you with nowhere to go. It's your fault she's dead."

"No it isn't!"

"Bullshit." Then the angry look on her mother's face changed, her lips curling up, "You know who else's death is your fault?" Faith waited, unsure what was coming next. "Peter's."

Faith felt her blood begin to boil. Her mother wasn't allowed to talk about him. "No."

"Yes. You're the one responsible for Peter's death," Lara snapped. "You let him die. You did nothing, and he died."

Faith's hangs clenched into fists at her sides, trying to hold back all the fury brewing inside her at her mother's words. "No! You're the one that killed him, not me!"

Lara shook her head, "We both know that isn't true, my little whore of a daughter. We both know it's your fault he's dead."

"No, it isn't! It's yours! You killed him!" she screamed. "You poisoned him with all that shit you put inside your body. He was your unborn son and you murdered him!"

Lara didn't seemed fazed by Faith's anger. She kept smiling, words sharp and cutting deep, "You're the one that held him as he died, Isabel. You're the one that sat there, trying not to cry, as he died in your arms. You did nothing to try and save him, to help him, to keep him alive. You just sat there, like the fucking useless girl you've always been, and you let him die."

"No," she whimpered. Peter wasn't her fault. Peter's death wasn't her fault.

"You did nothing to help him, you did nothing to try to save him. You sat there and held him like a pathetic little cry-baby, and he died. It's your fault he's dead."

She felt the tears beginning to prick behind her eyes as her mother's words sunk in. "Please, please stop."

"And then there's the person you carry the most guilt about, isn't that right? She may as well be dead, with the way you take care of her."

This was getting too much for Faith. "I told you not to talk about her," she insisted, but her voice was weaker now, the anger turning into guilt.

"She's my daughter just as much as you are."

"She loved you! She tried! She tried so hard to be what you wanted, but you never loved her! You just kept beating her down, making her believe she was worthless and broken."

Lara snapped, snarling her words at Faith, "She _was_ worthless and broken, Isabel. Even you could see that."

"No! You're the one that's broken! You call yourself a mother? We would have been better off living on the streets than living with you! All you cared about was getting high and getting laid, having a good time. You were never responsible, never took care of us. All you cared about was whose bed you'd fall into!"

"Sounds familiar."

Faith's anger stopped abruptly. "No."

"You're so much like me, Isabel. You pretend not to see it, but I know you do. All those words, they're just as true for me as they are for you."

"I love Dani, I would never hurt her!"

"You need to stop denying it, Isabel. Because as amusing as this is, it's getting fucking old. You're a worthless tramp, and she's a retarded little girl. I've accepted it. You need to too."

"Stop calling her that!"

"Retarded? Damaged? Insane? Mental?" Faith shook her head, trying to ignore the words as Lara pressed on, "They're all true. She's a broken little fuck-up of a girl."

"It's your fault she's like this!" she screamed back, "It's your fault! You don't get to say anything bad about her, because you're the one that broke her!"

"Is that so, Isabel?" Lara asked, lips drawing into a feral snarl. "I'm the one that hurt her?" Her hand came up, fingers splaying across her chest in mock-surprise. "And who did you tell, hmm? If I'm the one that hurt her, and you were her protector, who did you tell?"

Faith ground her teeth together, knowing what her mother was getting at but refusing to give in.

"You remember that day as well as I do, don't you? I know you do, Isabel. I know that day still haunts you. The day Daniela fell down the stairs."

"She didn't fall," Faith snarled. "He pushed her! It's your fault!"

And Lara smiled, big and wide and mocking. "And who did you tell, Isabel? If she didn't fall, who did you tell the truth to? Anyone? Whenever anyone asked what happened to her, what did you say?" Faith didn't answer, too shocked by the truth to be able to form words, so Lara pressed on, "You were a good little parrot, telling the doctors and the social workers exactly what I told you to."

"That isn't true," she begged.

"It is. You know it is. If you were her protector, her saviour, her daring big sister, why didn't you do anything to protect her from the one person you knew could hurt her the most, hmm?"

Faith shook her head, staggering back a step and away from the monster in front of her. "No."

"Yes," Lara snapped, "Yes. You know it's true. I had my claws in her just like I had my claws in you. You _knew_ I could hurt her, you knew I _kept_ hurting her, but you never said anything. You never truly did anything to protect her, Isabel. Not really. You let her stay under my roof until the day I died."

Lara smiled, giving Faith a look that sent shivers right down to Faith's soul, a look that would haunt her dreams for nights to come, "And when they did take her away, did you ever really do anything to protect her?"

"Yes," Faith screamed, aware there were tears beginning to form in her eyes, making her vision swim. She couldn't hold them back any longer. "I did everything I could for her."

"You let her get taken away," Lara said evenly.

The heavy truth of her mother's words settled inside her like rocks sinking to the bottom of a pond. Heavy and immovable and true, the words knocked the wind right out of Faith. She did let Dani down. She let her sister get taken away, sent to that place, where Faith couldn't be there to protect her.

She let them poison her with their medication, treating her for things she wasn't sick with, let her mind turn against her as each and every person didn't believe the words Dani cried about the monsters inside her head.

"You know it's true, don't you. You let her get taken away."

"I let her get taken away," Faith repeated, voice timid and thick with regret.

"You were a worthless waste of a daughter, Isabel. A tramp, a whore, a murderer. You've killed, and you've let people die because you're just a scared little girl. You aren't a hero, you aren't a champion. You're nothing but worthless white trash."

Everything around Faith faded as a cold swept over her. Her mother was right. She wasn't a hero. She wasn't a good person. She'd never been a good person. She was empty and broken and undeserving of any of the happiness in her life.

Her mother was right. Her mother had always been right. Faith was a mistake, an accident, someone never meant to be. The only reason she was still here was luck, she should have died long ago, when Buffy stuck that knife in her gut. Before that even.

"No one could ever love you, not with the monster you are inside."

She felt herself growing cold and weak before her mother, turning into the small and helpless child she once was, able to do nothing to fight against her mother's wrath. Her words were harsh, but they were right. She was a small, pathetic, disappointing child in her mother's eyes, and she always would be.

"You failed her, Isabel. You failed Daniela, the one person in the world you swore you'd protect. You deserve to die here, to let the blood leak out of you until there's nothing left.

"Please," Faith heard herself whimper, reduced to begging her mother like a small girl. "Please, stop."

"Is the truth too hard to hear, my darling girl?"

Her words stung like poison inside her, poisonous truth.

She was worthless.

She did deserve to die.

She failed Dani.

Faith sank down, landing hard and sharp on her knees against the pavement, trying her hardest to escape her mother's voice, the truth to the words she was saying.

A jolt of pain shot through Faith, running from where her knees impacted the pavement right up to the shredded flesh of her stomach. She cried out, the pain so sharp and blinding it felt like the übervamp was on top of her again, ripping her body apart.

But with the pain came the clarity. The pain forced her eyes, squeezed shut with her tears, to open. It forced the fogginess inside her mind to retreat. And it forced the image of her mother in front of her to flicker.

_Focus,_ something inside of her screamed. _Faith, focus!_

So she did. Faith grabbed onto the clarity, the clarity that was already being replaced by the dizzy, foggy feeling again. She wrapped her hands around it and forced her mind to focus, on something, anything that she knew to be true.

Dani.

She didn't fail Dani.

Dani was alive. Dani was alive and okay and Faith had kept her promise. It took longer than Faith thought it would, getting Dani away from that place they took her to, but Faith still got her out. Got her away from the doctors and the medicine, away from the people who told Faith her sister was damaged beyond repair, who told her she'd be better off in isolation, filled with sedatives to dull her screams.

She didn't fail Dani. Faith knew that. Some part of her, deep down, knew Dani was okay. Dani still believed in her and looked up to her and loved her.

Love.

Willow.

Willow believed in her. Willow knew she was good inside, that she wasn't evil and broken and corrupt. Willow trusted her.

"You're dead," Faith said, struggling to get back to her feet.

"It doesn't matter, Isabel, you still know I'm right."

"No," Faith barked, directing all the anger inside her towards her mother. "No, it does matter. Because _you're _the one who failed. _You_ failed as a parent. _You_ failed to love and protect us. _You _failed Dani, not me."

Her mother's image flickered again.

Faith wasn't weak. She was strong. She could beat this. She knew she could.

"I hate you!"

"You hate yourself," her mother said hastily, realizing Faith was fighting back. "You hate me because you see yourself in me."

"I'm not you!" Faith screamed, "I'll never be like you!"

She felt the illusion fall away, felt more than saw her mother fade. She felt the coldness recede, felt herself able to breathe again, felt the tears dry. She felt the world snap back into sharp focus around her.

She was not her mother. Faith would never, ever become her mother.

Looking around, Faith didn't like what she saw. Everyone around her, Willow, Buffy, Spike, Xander and all the Potential girls, they were all trapped inside whatever magic The First was working on them. Some were screaming, some were crying, but none of them seemed aware that it wasn't real.

Somehow The First was able to get inside their heads. Before, it took on the shape of someone who was dead. Now, it seemed like it was able to project the image into everyone's head, all at the same time, breaking down all their fighters by wearing away at their courage and self-worth.

She looked up at The First. With everyone distracted it seemed to be moving on with its plan. None of the minor demons were left; all of them had been absorbed into The First, letting it grow in power. The sky above them was getting darker, and Faith realized it was spreading. The dark cloud that had been hovering about Sunnydale High School was now spreading, reaching out to envelope all of Sunnydale in darkness. And Faith was pretty sure it wasn't going to stop once it hit the edge of town.

The ground underneath her was beginning to shake, a low rumbling deep underground.

_Yeah, it's totally preparin' to destroy humankind and take over. Wonderful._

Faith quickly made her way over to Willow, dropping to her knees in front of the redhead, who was on the ground sobbing.

"Willow," she said gently, taking the girl by the shoulders, "Willow, listen to me."

"Tara, baby, please, I didn't mean it," Willow cried, looking right through Faith. The tears were steadily falling down her face, her body shaking in Faith's hands. "You know I didn't mean it."

Willow was trapped inside her own nightmare, just like Faith had been. "Willow. Willow it isn't real, you have to fight it."

Willow shook her head back and forth, "No, baby, please, you know that isn't true."

"Willow!" Faith said sharply, shaking her. "Willow focus on me. That isn't Tara, it isn't real."

Willow struggled in Faith's grasp, beginning to beat her fists against Faith's chest as she cried, "I can't. I can't, Tara, please stop."

Faith pulled Willow close, trapping the witch's beating fists between them. "She's not real, Willow," she said gently, trying to soothe Willow the same way she would sooth Dani after a vision. "It's The First, Red, that isn't Tara. You know that isn't her."

Willow continued to shake in her arms, crying out for whatever torment she was stuck in to stop. Faith held her close, arms tightly secure around the witch, refusing to give up. "It isn't real, Willow, it isn't real. You have to fight back. Just focus on my voice, Red, listen to me."

The redhead continued to tremble, but now tried to bury herself in Faith's embrace. She pressed as close to Faith as possible, arms wrapping around her and head tucking under Faith's chin. "Faith," she whimpered, "Faith, why is she doing this? Why won't she stop?"

"It isn't Tara, Willow. You know it isn't her. You have to fight back."

"I can't," Willow whispered, "I can't. She's right, everything she's saying is right."

"No, it isn't," Faith insisted, squeezing Willow closer. "It's The First, Red. You've got to fight back."

She felt Willow's tears against her neck, warm and wet. She felt as her tremors began to lessen as her grip on Faith, on what was real, strengthened. "Faith?" her voice was small and weak.

"I'm here, Red. I'm right here," Faith answered, pulling away slightly to look down at the redhead. "Willow, open your eyes."

Willow stayed still a moment longer before her eyes flickered open, tears still caught in her lashes. Her chest was moving erratically, taking little gasps of air. But her eyes were open and looking right at Faith, trusting her.

"Stay with me, Red."

"It wasn't real?"

"No," Faith said, smiling slightly. "It's all in our heads. It's The First."

Willow tilted her head up, looking at the monster towering above them. It hadn't noticed they'd broken free of its hold. Faith watched as Willow then shifted in her arms, looking around at all the girls around them, still trapped in their own nightmares.

"We have to help them," she said quietly, voice raw from crying. "Faith, how do we help them all?"

"Can you-" she began.

Willow trembled and ducked back into Faith's arms. "No magic," she whispered.

Faith let it go for a moment, understanding how scared Willow was, the fear from whatever The First had been telling her still fresh in her mind. But Faith knew it couldn't last, they would need magic to defeat this.

"I got this," she said instead, shifting Willow out of her arms. She stood up, ignoring the sharp pain that came with it. She staggered to her right a few feet, towards where Minh lay, shaking and whimpering. She picked up the girl's bloodied battle axe, taking a moment to look up at The First.

The thing was fucking _big._

_Okay,_ she told herself, pushing past the pain. _Just distract it. Make it focus on you so it lets everyone else go. Piece of cake._

Sucking in a deep breath, Faith ran forward, swinging the ax above her head before bearing it down, implanting it into The First's leg.

As expected, the beast roared. Its leg, thick as a tree trunk, kicked forward, sending Faith through the air and then landing hard on her back, sprawled on the pavement.

"Insolent little fly," its voice thundered. "You think your pathetic weapons will defeat me?"

Faith lay back on the pavement, gasping and trying to ignore the spots flickering across her vision. That had hurt. That had really hurt. She vaguely registered Willow dropping to her side, but forced herself to focus on The First instead. "Wasn't trying to defeat you," she growled, teeth grinding together to try and fight back against the pain. "Look around, you stupid fucker."


	69. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56**

Willow screamed the moment The First's massive leg impacted Faith, sending her through the air to land hard on the ground a dozen feet away. She ran towards the Slayer, dropping to her knees, "Faith," she said, voice high and panicked, "Faith, are you okay?"

Faith visibly ground her teeth together, trying her hardest to ignore the pain. She looked past Willow, up at the beast towering over them. "Wasn't trying to defeat you," she gasped out. "Look around, you stupid fucker."

Faith's idea had worked. The wound she'd given The First, which, Willow figured, couldn't have felt like more than a paper cut, had distracted it. It was focused on them, glaring down at the pair of them, unaware that its grip on everyone around had slipped.

"Over here, you big asshole," Buffy yelled. Her legs were shaking and there were tear tracks on her face, but she wasn't stuck under The First's hold anymore. None of the girls were.

Willow ignored the enraged roar The First let out, and ignored everything that happened right after. She looked down at Faith, who was bleeding on the ground next to her. "Faith."

"I'm okay, Red," Faith ground out, shaking her head slightly to chase the dizziness away. Her hand pressed against her wound, which was sticky with blood. "Totally fine."

"Faith, you're bleeding."

"So're you," she said, free hand reaching up to touch Willow's temple. When she pulled it away her fingers were stained red.

"I'm thinking you're wound is a little more important than mine," Willow insisted. Faith started trying to sit up but Willow grabbed onto her shoulders, pushing her back down. "Faith, no."

"Red, we've got a job to do. It isn't that bad," she said, nodding towards her stomach. "Just a scratch. The bleeding's already slowed down."

"Faith, you can't be serious," she pleaded.

"Let me up, Willow," Faith said, a low growl touching her voice. "You can patch me up later, but right now we've got a demon to destroy." With Willow's help she struggled to her feet.

"And how are we-" her words were cut off as the ground underneath them shook violently.

The First had summoned up more übervamps from the depths of the crushed school; Willow watched as they charged forward, intent on keeping everyone fighting distracted while The First continued with its plan. The sky was growing ever darker and stretching out further and further.

The ground continued to quake underneath them as the wind began picking up, pressing sharply against them and tossing their hair about.

Faith seized a sword from the ground, turning and slicing it through an übervamp that was coming towards Willow. She was weaker and slower, Willow could see, but she wasn't going to give up. Without her own weapon Willow hovered near Faith, unsure what to do as Faith hacked at any of the übervamps coming near them.

She had never managed the spell supposed to Call the girls, she had been interrupted before she could finish and then been distracted with seeing Tara.

And Faith knew it.

"Red, now's your chance. It's distracted," she said, keeping her eyes on the demons around them but nodding up towards The First. "It's trying to keep going but it has to keep an eye on us. Now's your chance to Call the girls. Make them strong so they can fight back."

"Faith, I can't," she insisted, jumping out of the way of Faith's constantly swinging blade. She felt helpless without her own weapon to help fight.

"Yes, you can!" Faith yelled back, eyes boring into her for a few seconds before focusing again on the fight.

Willow looked out at them, her friends. They surrounded The First, fighting with all they had against the second swarm of übervamps. Faith, Buffy and Spike were strong, knocking their foes down, with Xander not far behind. But the girls were no match, not really. They were trying with everything they had, but they weren't strong enough against the übervamps.

Most of them were wounded; a few lay strewn on the ground, the only things still and unmoving in the battle. One of the fallen girls was blonde, one of the two that Willow could never tell apart.

"Willow," Faith said, drawing her back, "It has to be now."

She shook her head furiously, Tara's words still fresh in her mind. It didn't matter that it had actually been The First, everything it had said was true. That was the game it played; it told the truth. It told the truth until you couldn't bear to hear it anymore.

There would be no coming back from this. If she attempted this magic, everyone here would die. Even if they did manage to take down The First, if she tried the spell, she would kill them all. Tara had been right, she didn't have enough control over this, over the darkness inside her. If she tried to wield it, it would fight back and take over her and she'd destroy them all.

She couldn't control her magic, she never could, not really, not when it mattered.

Willow felt herself being yanked to one side, Buffy's arms strong around her, to keep her from walking right into Faith's blade.

"Willow," Buffy yelled at her, gripping one arm while holding the scythe with the other, "Either do something useful, or leave. You're going to get killed just standing here."

"Buffy…"

"She's right," Buffy said, nodding towards Faith, "Now's your chance to do the spell."

"Buffy, I can't."

"Will, we all believe in you," she insisted, pushing Willow behind her and out of the way of an übervamp.

"It doesn't matter if you believe in me," she shouted over the wind, "It doesn't matter how much any of you believe in me, I still can't do this, I can't do the magic anymore. I can't-"

Buffy tackled her to the ground. Willow gasped in surprise, wincing as her back impacted the pavement. "Stop," Buffy snarled at her, eyes hard and more determined than Willow had ever seen them. She pinned Willow beneath her, muscles tight and strong and keeping Willow still. "Enough of this. We get it, Willow. You're scared. Guess what, so are we."

Willow had seen Buffy look furious before, but never had the anger been so clearly directed at her. Buffy's face hovered inches above Willow's, eyes fiery. "I don't care if we all die," she said slowly, her voice low and menacing. "I don't care if you kill me, or Xander, or every single person here. But I care about stopping this thing before it takes over the world. And as far as I'm concerned, your damn spell is the only thing that can help us. So either get over it, or get out."

Without waiting for an answer, Buffy heaved herself off of Willow, running and driving her blade into the arm of the nearest demon.

Willow stayed on the ground, more petrified than ever. How was she expected to do this?

A hand hovered in front of her face. Willow glanced up and smiled nervously when she saw that it was attached to Faith. She grasped it hesitantly, letting Faith pull her to her feet. Faith stared at her for a long moment, feet planted on the still shifting ground, hair blowing in all directions.

"You have a darkness inside you, Red. But you have to overcome it, you can't let it control you anymore." She paused, her next words heavy with meaning. "You have to accept it and move on."

Faith's words from the diner, which seemed like so long ago now, echoed inside her head, _You just have to accept it and… and move on. I don't have any real words of wisdom for you._

Her own words echoed back, the ones she said to Faith only a few days ago, after The First had come to Faith as Mayor Wilkins, _But you have to except it and move on. You told me that._

"You're strong, Red. Strong enough to do this. And we can believe in you 'til the cows come home, but you gotta believe in yourself for your magic to work."

Faith's words clashed sharply inside her head, sounding so much like something Tara – the old Tara, not The First pretending's – would say. That she wasn't a slave to her power, that had the power to control it inside herself right from the beginning.

"Okay," she said nervously, staring into Faith's eyes. "I'll do it, I'll try."

Faith nodded, satisfied. "B," she yelled, "We need that scythe over here."

Buffy nodded, making her way back over and signaling Spike to do the same. The three loosely surrounded Willow, giving her protection and the space she needed to attempt the spell.

_Here goes everything._

She stood holding the scythe with both hands, too afraid of the battle raging around her to sit down while she did her casting. Closing her eyes, she focused first on blocking out everything around her. The presence of the three protecting her, the clash of claw against metal, the sound of the wind, and the roar of the massive beast towering over them. Slowly, steadily, she pushed them from her mind, letting everything go blank as her breathing evened out.

The air around her stilled, a small pocket of calm inside the storm surrounding them.

Then she pulled in on herself, sinking into her inner-self. She stood on a beach, the lake of her own magic stretching before her. Its waves coiled and crashed, her power was restless and waiting for her. The colour of the lake was shifting, constantly changing between different hues of blue and purple; it was a lighter blue near the beach where she stood, and darker purple the further into the lake she looked, but the colour was always changing slightly. Stark bands of white and black magic sifted through the lake, never fully mixing with the other colours.

_You can do this, Willow,_ she told herself, taking slow steps towards the lake's edge.

The magic seemed to swell towards her, pulling in towards the beach, waiting for direction.

She crouched near the edge, leaning down to dip a finger into the lake of power. She swirled it around, watching as the magic sparked and changed colour at her touch. It was cold, but she could feel it pulsing, waiting for her to wield it.

_I can do this,_ she insisted as she stood. _I can do this. I have to do this._

Her hands were shaking at her sides, clammy and curled into tight fists. Forcing herself to open them, she wiped them on her thighs and drew in a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

Looking down again at the lake, the dark streaks of colour became more and more prominent. The evil in her power was right there, waiting for her to slip so it could take over.

_Okay,_ Willow though as she took her first step from the beach into the lake of magic. _Here we go._

She couldn't just be kneeling at the edge like she usually would, dipping her hands in before beginning to cast. She needed to be in contact with as much of it as possible in order to channel it, in order to keep control. She waded until she was knee-deep before stopping. The power tugged on her, trying to draw her in deeper, to pull her under, but she stayed where she was.

In her physical body, Willow griped the scythe tighter as she began to draw the magic up from inside her, feeling as it pulsed and flowed through her body, sending every inch of her vibrating with power. Her eyes were closed, blocking out everything around her so she could focus. She trusted the others to keep her safe.

The air around her began to pick up, creating a wind all her own. She felt it brush past her cheeks and begin to toss her hair. The air began to prickle; she could feel it as it reacted to the power building up. She could feel the ancient and sour taste of the scythe's magic on her tongue as it began reacting too, seeming to sense her magic and try to reach out to it.

_Here we go,_ Willow thought as the magic began to race through her body, draining from the lake inside to crash through her. She channelled it through into her hands, where she held the scythe in a death grip.

She gasped, eyes flying open. The spider-web connection between Buffy and Faith was clearly visible to Willow, a bright white ribbon of ancient power running between them. And each of them was connected to the blade in her hands, a thick, clearly visible path of power.

She could feel their power, the primeval magic within them that gave them their power, rooted them to the Slayer line. Willow could even feel the source of each of their powers, their individual Slayers, resting inside them. The spirits were focused on the battle, on the demons they were created to destroy, but she felt them rumble with acknowledgement to her presence, with her magic's presence.

Ignoring the thick veil of black beginning to coat her vision, Willow focused on flooding all the power she could into the scythe. The wind around her began to pick up further; she could feel it pressing sharply into her. The scythe began to hum in her hands, the sound so deep it began to echo inside Willow, rattling her bones.

The weapon in her hands had a magic all its own, and she was flooding it with even more power.

_Don't let go._

She began focusing outward, searching for the connections that spanned from Buffy and Faith out into the other girls. The webs linking them began to glow before her eyes, awakening as the Slayers' rumbles grew louder. She could feel them, each and every tendril of the web beginning to shake and quiver with untapped power.

Willow knew the surge was coming before it happened, but she couldn't do anything to stop it. Her power began to rebel, pushing back against her command. Her knees buckled for a moment, but she managed to stay upright, teeth gritted together as she fought back.

She wasn't finished yet, she had to finish. If she let the darkness win now, when the magic of the Slayers was still loose…

Voices called to her, but Willow ignored them, not giving in. She felt the darkness begin to run through her, spiraling through her body, from her toes up to her hair. The darkness could seep into her all it wanted, but she wasn't going to give in.

She continued pushing her power into the scythe; it pooled there, no way to release itself into the physical battle around her. Normally when it surged from inside her, she'd guide her power in the form of a spell, in concentration, and force it to do something for her, to bend to her will until it rebelled back and she collapsed. But now all she did was force it into the scythe, pushing with all she had.

The roar of the Slayers' grew louder in her ears, she could feel the sound as it travelled down the ribbons of power now connecting her to Buffy and Faith.

The spirits of the Slayers inside her friends were ancient and ferocious, but she held the connection as long as she could, until the blackness inside her began to choke her, starving off the flow from her source into the scythe. Only when she couldn't push any further did she speak to the Slayers' spirits.

_Make them strong!_

Then Willow let the damn break.

Shoving as hard as she could, Willow pushed out against the magic trapped inside the scythe, forcing it to move along the only pathway available, the lines of power linking it to Faith and Buffy. It crashed through them and Willow felt her whole body tremble when her power impacted the two girls, hitting them so squarely their connection erupted into a burst of light visible to not only Willow but everyone around.

_Keep going_, she begged the power,_ keep pushing outward. Don't stop._

It did. The power radiated outward, flying along the webs linking all the girls to Buffy and Faith. It threw their Slayers into a roaring frenzy, the sound of their Call impossibly loud in Willow's ears, making her whole body shake.

The power flared, the light of her magic exploding as it travelled along the links and impacted the girls.

Her magic brought the spider web connecting them all to life, making an easy passage for the Slayers' spirits to rush along; their power dividing and growing as it implanted into each of the Potentials, bringing to life the source of power within them that should only wake if Buffy or Faith died.

The moment the magic in the scythe began moving along the connections, Willow cut herself off from it. She pooled her magic into it, then gave it the push it needed, but from there she cut her own power source off, letting the Slayers' and scythe's power ricochet along the lines without her.

The darkness inside her bucked against her, digging its claws deep in protest. The darkness knew where the power was, wanted to chase the light along the web, so that it could seep in and corrupt them all.

Willow fought back, trying her hardest not to let it follow along the ribbons of power. She fought back harder than she had ever fought against her power. She let it win before, let it win and take over, to the point where it had corrupted her mind and tried to make her destroy the world, but she wouldn't let that happen again, not if she could help it.

_Let us_, it whispered, words harsh and cold in her ears. _Just sleep, let us take over._

_No_, Willow insisted. Her body shook with effort, trying to keep the volcano within her from erupting. But she was fading fast. Her ability to rein in the darkness was weakening as her power reserves dropped.

_No,_ she begged, not wanting it to win, not wanting it to take over. She didn't want to lose control again, she didn't want to be evil again.

She didn't want them all to die.

_Yes!_ the evil inside her shouted, _Give in. Give in._

The last time this had happened, when she had been protecting the house, she had passed out before her power could take over. It was the only chance she had. She was exhausted, every inch, and she couldn't hold on any more.

The dark film over her eyes went pitch black as she collapsed, legs buckling under her own weight.

Something caught her, hands cool but firm where the grasped her under her arms, keeping her from dropping to the pavement.

"I've got you." Spike's voice was faint in her ears, but his hands were sure where they held her. "You did it, Willow."

She couldn't see, everything was black around her, engulfing her in darkness. And she couldn't feel anything except for his cold touch and the burning of the scythe in her hands. Her power was still ripping through her, clawing and slashing and trying to get at the scythe. The weapon seared in her hands, red hot and fiery with power.

"The scythe," she gasped; the connection needed to be broken. It was the only way to keep the darkness from hurting everyone else.

Spike grasped her more firmly around her with one hand and began prying the weapon from her hands with the other. She heard him hiss at the heat, but she could only sigh in relief the moment the physical connection between it and her was broken.

She heard the metal as Spike let it clatter to the pavement, heard Spike's voice as he spoke to her again, low and urgent. "Stay with me, Willow," he insisted, as if knowing unconsciousness was trying to pull her under.


	70. Chapter 57

**A/N**: There'll be one more chapter after this one, folks.

**Chapter 57**

Faith wasn't sure exactly what she was expecting to happen when Willow began her spell, but the white hot pain that surged through her caught her so off guard she hit the ground, landing hard on her hands and knees and gasping for breath. Buffy landed right next to her, wincing and coughing and clutching at her chest, as if trying to pull the pain out.

"Faith," Buffy forced out, "Faith, look."

Her body was beginning to hum, the Slayer inside her beginning to take life like Faith had never felt before. Faith forced her eyes up, trying to see what Buffy saw.

The First was looking down on them all, eyes pitch black and face contorted in rage.

"No," it snarled, bending down and tossing its arms, sending Potential girls and übervamps alike flying away. "No, you cannot stop me."

"Then we'll die trying," Buffy yelled, getting to her feet and roughly pulling Faith up to join her. The brunette gasped automatically, a reflex reaction to the pain, but the wave of agony didn't come. She glanced down; her stomach and side were both still ripped and shredded beyond belief, but the pain was gone.

_It's the Slayer power_, Faith realized, turning with a start to glance at Willow. The witch's power was awakening the beasts inside her and Buffy, but it was also awakening the power that came with them, blocking out all the pain as it began to heal.

Spike stood next to Willow, keeping a wary eye on her. None of the übervamps tried to draw any closer since her spell began, but he clearly wasn't planning on leaving her side.

Both the ground underneath them and the air around them shook and cracked with The First's fury, but the air around Willow moved independently, swirling around her with a mind of its own. Her eyes were open, black and unseeing as she worked her magic, knuckles white with how hard she was gripping the scythe.

Buffy's gasp forced Faith to look back at what was going on in front of her. Like before, the übervamps were beginning to disintegrate, their old and evil power getting absorbed by The First, its last attempt at making itself stronger to fight them.

"I will kill you all," it roared, voice low and reverberating inside Faith like the deep clang of church bells. "You're pretty parlor tricks cannot stop the darkness as it blankets the world in death and despair. My evil power will rule."

"If you're going to rule," Buffy quipped, and Faith shook her head, because only Buffy could try to mock her enemy at a time like this, when the thing they were fighting was big enough to literally squash them like bugs. "Then I'd suggest flossing. I can see those nasty canines, and they don't look pretty."

The beast surged a step forward, both arms reaching forward to grab at them. Buffy leaped and ran to the left, Faith moved to the right, both narrowly avoiding its massive hands.

Again The First let out an enraged cry, stomping one of its massive hoofed feet and crushing the body of a fallen Potential. Faith winced, unable to do anything to stop it. She turned her head, intent on making sure Willow and Spike were okay, when the first scream happened.

The wind was whipping past her, stronger than anything Faith had ever felt, but the scream tore through it easily, cutting through the darkness around them and making them all jump. But before Faith could even locate which girl was screaming, another started. And then another.

She felt the Slayer inside her rumble, answering the girls' calls.

Willow's spell was working.

Faith watched in disbelief as, one by one, each and every one of the Potentials loosely encircling The First let lose a scream as the power of the Slayer line impacted them, jolting through their bodies and sending some of them off their feet. Faith knew it hurt, remembered just how crushing and suffocating and blinding the pain was, but in a moment it would be over, and they would all be strong.

Their pain lasted longer than Faith remembered her own did, only stopping when she heard the clatter of the scythe falling to the ground behind her. She wanted to turn and look, but was too afraid to take her eyes off The First.

"No," it howled, "No it cannot be, there can only be one."

"Um, did you miss the memo where there were two of us, you big ugly goat?" Buffy taunted, not flinching as its eyes narrowed and it snorted in anger at her. "What're you gonna do, glare me do death?"

It roared, tossing its head and stooping low again, trying to implant Buffy on one of its massive horns.

But she was too quick, jumping out of its reach and then twirling back in front of it. "You're going to have to do better than that, big guy."

The First dropped its head again. Buffy flinched, jumping back, but she wasn't its target. It's horn impacted the girl standing closest to Buffy, making her scream in pain before it tossed it's head and sent her flying, landing in a heap a few dozen feet away.

Buffy gritted her teeth. Faith gulped.

"You think because you give them power that it makes them strong? You think your pathetic army can stop me?" It snarled, and the ground shook underneath them, sending most of them to their knees. Faith staggered back a few steps, avoiding a large crack that appeared in the pavement. Looking harder, she noticed more of them, spiraling out from the ruins of the school. If The First kept up its idea of rocking the earth underneath it, it was going to bring the whole town down.

"I told you, you big overgrown freak with antlers, I'm not stopping until I take you down." Buffy turned, head whipping back and forth as she looked at all the girls surrounding them, her voice getting louder and carrying over the wind. "Do you feel it now, the power? Do you feel the birthright that's been passed down to you? I want you to believe in that power. You've all been Chosen now. Now we stand and fight, not alone, but together."

The First was still crouching low, its arms within reach. Lifting her sword, Buffy charged forward, plunging it as deep into its flesh as she could. The other girls immediately followed suit, closing in and trying to bring it down.

It was in vain though. The First laughed maniacally, their weapons hardly strong enough to do any real damage. It stomped its cloven feet as it easily fought back against the assault, sending the Slayers right and left as it brushed them off as if they were flies.

Faith knew she had to help. She had kept her grip on her sword, even after Willow's spell had sent her to the ground. She ignored the rational side of her that knew that, even if she was no longer in pain and her Slayer healing was already starting, that if she kept up in the battle, it would only make her wound worse.

She moved forward, not feeling the stabs of pain that shot through her stomach, as her blade hit home in one of The First's legs. She whirled, spinning out of the way of its kicking foot and trying to avoid getting trampled.

In focusing on its feet, Faith entirely missed her chance to leap out of the way before one of its horns impacted her good side, sending her crashing to the pavement a few feet away, the wind knocked out of her.

That pain she could feel. The whole side of her body was numb from The First's impact with her.

_Stupid fucker_, she growled to herself, struggling to get her feet back under her.

Despite the wind, Faith heard Willow's voice, weak and quiet. She turned, watching out of the corner of her eye as Spike held her, supporting her as she reached down to grab the fallen scythe.

The minute her fingers touched the weapon Faith felt the rumble of the Slayer inside her again, loud as a gong. It felt like it was trying to burst out from inside her, awake and alert and it's only thought to destroy the demon before them.

She caught Willow's eye and saw her tight-lipped smile, before the redhead's eyes flickered closed for a few seconds, lips moving in a silent spell.

Something bright caught her eye. Faith turned back to the battle, trying to find where it was coming from. It was just a shimmer at first, but it grew, until Buffy was bathed in a white light, radiating out from her chest.

Slowly, the other Potentials began to glow too, their power shining brightly against The First. Faith looked down at her own chest, amused to find a light shining there too. Willow was doing something to draw all their powers to the surface.

Faith could see their light was having an effect on The First. It was stomping its feet angrily and trying to shield its eyes from the light. She didn't know if this was Willow's intention, or simply a side-effect of whatever she was doing, but The First was clearly becoming agitated.

"How do you like us now, Firstie," Buffy yelled. Faith could see the feral grin on her face.

The First let out a monstrous sound as a sudden wave of darkness shot out from its hands, coating the sky in an even thicker blanket of darkness as it tried to block out their glows. It roared, the wind picking up so strongly it nearly brought Faith off her feet. The pavement around them cracked and caved-in further as the ground shook with The First's anger.

"I will destroy you," it growled, looking directly at Buffy.

Buffy smiled.

"There's your problem. I'm not the only one you need to worry about. In case you didn't notice," she laughed, looking around at all the new Slayers, "we broke the lore. It's not _one girl _anymore. We aren't alone in our fight anymore."

"She's right," Faith jumped in, knowing they needed to get the girls not only strong, but believing in themselves for them to defeat The First. "Now we're _all_ sworn to protect the world. Our power is their power. They've all been Chosen to stop you."

"I will bring you all down," it said, eyes flashing in anger. "Every last one of you."

"Hey jackass," Kennedy called, spinning her weapon in her hands. "Haven't you heard? The good guys always win."

As one they all attacked a second time, blades slicing and biting into flesh. It was still difficult to fight a foe so large though, because there was only so much damage they could do with it towering over them. Plus, The First seemed intent on trying to either toss them all across the parking lot, or squish them under its massive hooves.

But their light was distracting it. The First was a creature of darkness, that was why it had blocked out the sun in order to fight them. Their Slayer glow was weakening it.

"Faith," she heard Willow's sharp call from behind them. "Buffy." Avoiding getting skewered by an angry horn, Faith turned to look at the witch. She had stepped away from Spike, and had the scythe clutched in her hands again.

Faith took a step towards her but Willow shook her head sharply, "Get them all to channel their power, like their wielding their own magic, and focus on The First. Your power can blind it and you can bring it down."

"You heard the witch," Buffy yelled, never taking her eyes off the demon.

Faith was about to try and figure out what exactly Willow meant by channeling their power when the redhead called to her again, "Faith, catch!"

Not having time to blink, Faith caught the scythe. It burned warm in her hands, vibrating with the power inside of it. Willow had explained that it had a magic all its own, and Faith could feel it now, like a voice calling to her, making her insides rattle.

The First turned its head, its dark eyes turning to focus on Faith. It let out a puff of angry breath from its snout, glaring at her. Working on a hunch, Faith yelled Buffy's name before tossing the weapon to the blonde.

Buffy dropped her own sword and caught the scythe easily, and Faith watched as The First turned back to look at the other Slayer. She could see the evil glint in its eyes that wasn't there a moment ago. It thought the scythe was the source of their power.

The scythe wasn't. Willow was.

Buffy was already lifting the scythe toward The First before Faith could react. The First bent down, attempting to pick up the blonde. Her blade bit right into the demon's palm, ripping it open. It snarled in pain before enclosing its injured hand around Buffy, lifting her up and into the air. It had her arms pinned to her side, so Buffy kicked her legs furiously as she screamed at it.

"It's nothing more than an axe," it rumbled, voice low and angry. "There's nothing special about your weapon, girl." Then it opened its hand, letting Buffy fall to the ground. Faith heard the girl's sharp cry of pain when she impacted the pavement, the scythe landing next to her.

"Buffy!" Willow screamed, running towards her.

Faith felt her whole body freeze as she watched The First lock its gaze on Willow, realizing she was the cause of their magic. She tried to force her body to move, to protect Willow, to shout out a warning, but it felt like every muscle in her body was clenched in terror, unable to move.

_No!_

"Nasty little witch," The First said, eyes dark and lips pulled back into an evil snarl. "I think you need to be dealt with."

Willow screamed as The First used it's uninjured, massive hand to backhand her, sending her flying back over the pavement. The sound of her hitting the ground was like gunfire to Faith's ears. Willow's body lay crumpled in a heap a few feet away, unmoving.

"Willow!"

Faith flew across the ground, completely ignoring her own injuries as she dropped heavily to her knees next to the witch. There was blood. All Faith could see was blood. Blood and an unmoving body.

Her body froze again, unable to reach out and touch Willow, too afraid of what she'd find. She knelt there, right next to the redhead, as her blood ran cold. "Willow, no."

She felt Buffy behind her, grasping her shoulders and trying to pull her away. "Faith, we have to finish this."

"Buffy." Her voice sounded raw and hurt, even to her own hears. She turned, still staying on the ground, and watched Buffy's face contort as she got a better look at the witch.

"Oh my God, Willow." Buffy's eyes were wide, lips parted in shock.

When Faith looked back down at Willow, she felt the Slayer inside her roar louder than it ever had, it's agonizing sound ringing loud and angry in her ears. Her whole body shook with rage, her own and her demon's, as she looked at Willow's prone body. The creature inside her screamed, wanting revenge for The First taking what was _theirs_, Faith's and her Slayer's. Her Slayer could feel the bond she had with Willow, not because of her power, but because she cared for Willow, and it wanted to rip apart the demon that had caused this.

But Faith forced herself to rein in the beast; she was too afraid to leave Willow's side.

"Kill it," she seethed, turning back to Buffy, ignoring how the glow from her chest was beginning to glow brighter as her Slayer grew more and more furious. "You're the leader, you're the true Slayer. You need to be the one to take the kill-shot."

Buffy's eyes flashed dangerously, her lips pulled into a tight line. She locked eyes with Faith, and Faith felt her own Slayer's fury rush into and mix with Buffy's own. The blonde nodded, fingers tightening around the scythe as she spun to face The First.

Faith shifted, hands shaking as she reached to pull Willow into her arms. The side of her head was bloody, hair matted down from where she'd impacted the pavement. She cradled Willow in her arms for a moment, squeezing back the tears, and looked up to watch Buffy.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion for Faith, slow motion and as if she was far away. Everything around her seemed to dull, the demolished school, the rest of the parking lot, it all faded until all she could see was Buffy, the other Slayers, and The First towering over them. Emptiness filled her ears, so Buffy's screams sounded as if they were heard through thick glass.

She watched Buffy run forward, screaming something to the other girls. She couldn't tell what Buffy said, but it seemed to resonate with the other girls, somehow allowing them to channel their power, like Willow had told them too. The all seemed to glow even brighter for a moment before diming, all of their lift seeming to slow into Buffy, like Faith's had.

Scythe in her grip, Buffy jumped up, managing to catch her middle against one of The First's arms as it lifted and waved them, trying to block the light from its eyes. She heaved herself up, so she was standing on its still flailing limb. Then she leapt again, landing on its shoulder.

Faith felt more than heard The First's enraged roar. She squeezed Willow tighter against her, pulling the girl's head against the crook of her neck, as everything around her shook. Her own bones rattled inside her, and it felt like the whole ground might crack open and swallow them whole. She didn't let go of the girl in her arms.

Buffy swung, the enhanced power Willow and the other Slayers had given her allowing for her to slice right through The First's neck, decapitating it.

Everything turned to pandemonium for a moment. The ground shook further, the wind taking on gale-like forces as it blew in every direction. Faith hunched over Willow, still keeping her in her arms, trying to block anything from reaching the redhead.

The First's body erupted, exploding into a massive cloud of darkness. It sent everyone around them to the ground. It's body began to disintegrate, like the übervamps had, turning into pure dark power before spreading across the sky like thousands of pounds of dust, dirt and debris.

Everything went impossibly dark for a long moment before it began to fade. The sky was still dark and moody, but it slowly began to lighten as The First's power faded.

It was gone.

They'd defeated it.

The _won._

"Willow?" Faith whispered, easing her hold on the other girl. Her body lay cradled against Faith's chest, held loosely in her arms. Faith felt the blood on her clothes from where it had seeped into her when she'd held the redhead, and saw the stains now across Willow's front from Faith's own bloody clothes.

"Willow, it's okay," she said softly, "We won. You can wake up now."

Tears stung like sharp knives against her eyes, but she couldn't do any more to hold them back. She drew in a shaky breath and she shook Willow's body gently. "Come on, Red."

Buffy dropped down in front of her, on Willow's other side. She was bloody and dirty, but Faith could see the dampness on her cheeks.

"Faith," Buffy said slowly. "Faith, is she…?"

"She's fine," Faith insisted, feeling exhaustion begin to drain her body. Willow was fine. Willow had to be fine. "She just hit her head."

Buffy eyed the blood as she bit down on her lip. "Faith, I…"

"She's fine," Faith said again, ignoring the waver in her voice. "It's just a scratch, it'll heal."

"She's not like us," Buffy whispered. "She can't heal like we can, Faith."

Faith shook her head, "Don't say that."

Her body stiffened as Buffy reached forward, first taking Willow's hand, and then reaching to find a pulse against Willow's neck. Faith didn't dare let go of Willow, but nothing inside her moved as Buffy's fingers pressed against Willow's skin.

"She… her pulse is really weak-"

"She'll be fine." Faith ignored the tears in her voice.

"Faith-"

"We'll get her to a hospital."

"Faith," Buffy said, her voice breaking with her words. She regarded Faith with sad eyes, "Faith it… it might be too late for-"

"No," she hissed, pulling Willow closer. "Buffy, you can't just let her die. She's your best friend."

The tears ran steadily down Buffy's own cheeks, "Faith, I don't know what to do."

Neither did Faith, and that was what scared her. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to do to fix this.

"Willow, please," she whimpered, tears still falling, as she bent down and kissed her forehead. She hugged Willow close as her own body began to shake with her sobs. She felt Buffy's hand against her shoulder, squeezing, as her other hand took one of Willows.

She didn't know what to do.

She didn't want to let Willow go, she wouldn't, but she didn't know what to do.

_Don't die on me, Red. Please. Please, you can't leave me alone to deal with everyone, I need you here with me. Your spell worked, you turned them all into Slayers. Don't you want to see them? Come on, Red. Please. Please say something._

Her body trembled, shaking as she cried and silently pleaded for Willow to wake up.

"You're getting blood all over me."

Faith jerked back right away, as if she had been burned. She hadn't imagined that. Willow's voice had been weak and scratchy, but it had been real. That wasn't inside her head.

Buffy gasped as Faith let out a hesitant and breathy, "Red?"

Willow's eyes fluttered open and a happy sob burst from inside Faith.

"You," Willow said slowly, "were the one bleeding. Why are _you_ holding _me_?"

"Jesus, Red," Faith laughed as she tried to make the tears stop. "You nearly bashed your head open, that's why."

"Oh," she said carefully. "I don't remember that."

Buffy laughed too, shaking her head and smiling ridiculously wide, "Willow, you're okay."

"Mmm," Willow answered, beginning to nod her head and then wincing.

Faith wrapped her arms tighter around her, pulling her into a desperate hug. She felt Willow's arms lift, hugging her back. "You're okay," she muttered into Willow's neck. "God, you're okay."

Willow pulled back and smiled lightly, shifting in Faith's arms. She was still lying right next to Faith, partially in her arms, but she reached over to hug Buffy too.

When she pulled back she glanced down at Faith's stomach and opened her mouth to say something, but Faith cut her off. "It'll heal. I'm fine. Right now we're focused on you."

The redhead nodded, hand reaching up so she could brush her fingers against Faith's cheek. "Did it work?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, Red. Your spell worked," Faith nodded, enjoying the sensation of Willow's fingertips against her skin.

"That's good," she answered. Then she frowned, "You were crying?"

Faith struggled, trying to swallow the thick lump forming in her throat. "Thought I lost you," she breathed out, voice heavy with emotion.

Willow gave a peaceful smile before reaching up, wrapping her arms around Faith's neck to pull her into another hug. Faith gave in right away, squeezing Willow tightly before pulling back to brush her lips against Willows. She let her forehead rest against Willow's, looking into the other girl's eyes. They shone back brightly at her, very much alive and okay.

Willow leaned forward, kissing Faith again. The kiss was soft, Willow's lips warm against her own. It had the slightest thread of urgency, as if Willow knew Faith needed reassurance she was okay, but it remained tender and soft. One of Willow's hands loosened its grip on Faith's neck so it could tangle in her hair. "I'm okay," she whispered against Faith's lips. "I'm right here."

Faith nodded back into the kiss, one hand skimming up and down Willow's arm. When their lips parted she pulled Willow in again, hugging her desperately close to her. She felt Willow's light laughter breath against her ear, "I'm right here, Faith. I love you. I'm right here."

Her body stiffened for a moment before softening, holding Willow close and breathing her in. Head against Willow's good side, she pressed her nose against Willow's hair as her lips hovered right next to Willow's ear. "I…" she started quietly, her voice hardly there at all. She felt Willow's squeeze of encouragement and let the words slip easily from inside her, "I love you, too, Red." She gave a soft kiss to the shell of Willow's ear before pulling back to look in her eyes again.

Willow was smiling softly, eyes bright and happy.

Faith let her eyes skim over Willow's face, once more making sure she was real and alive before leaving and landing on Buffy, who hadn't moved.

"I think you forgot about your audience," Buffy smirked.

Shit. She had forgotten about that.

She looked up, seeing Spike standing only a few steps behind Buffy. He shrugged at her, not really that interested. Clearly he was more worried that Buffy was okay than with the rather obvious show she had Willow had just put on.

Slowly, Faith untangled herself from Willow's embrace. She didn't let the witch go fully though, still made sure she stayed close, before looking past Spike.

The First was gone, its only remnants a dark stain against the grey pavement. The dark clouds were still hanging above them, but they were thinning, and the sun was already shining through.

A few bodies lay on the ground, the girls who didn't make it.

The rest of the girls hovered a few feet away, watching them. They all looked beaten and bloody, but they were standing, they had done it. Most of them had passive looks on their faces as they regarded Faith and Willow, a few looked uninterested even.

Kennedy was smirking like it was nobody's business.

She spotted Anya, supporting Giles against her. Anya looked bored, huffing as her eyes met Faith's before looking away. Giles' lips were pursed, surprise written clearly on his dangerously pale face.

Xander stood a few steps away. His arms were crossed over his chest and the slightest smile was present on his face. His eyebrows raised as Faith met his eyes, and he tipped his head forward, smiling. "I'm thinking you two have some explaining to do."

"Can it be later," Willow asked, sitting up fully and looking where Faith was. "My head feels a little woozie."

"Maybe another kiss from Faith will make it feel better."

Willow squeaked, her whole face blossoming red in embarrassment. Faith simply laughed, shook her head at Xander, and thought, _What the hell,_ before pulling Willow back in to kiss her again.


	71. Epilogue

**A/N**: It has been a blast everyone. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Without further ado, the final chapter.

**Epilogue**

Faith let out a groan of content as she stretched out on the bed. She felt her joints crack and her muscles pull as she reached her arms over her head and stretched her legs out, feeling the sheets pull against her. She let out a sigh.

"Stop it," Willow mumbled against her, "I'm still sleeping."

It had been five months since the battle in Sunnydale. They had left quite a bit of destruction, not only with the fully collapsed school, but The First's power had left the area all around cracked and partially caved in. It was quite the site.

When they had defeated The First, its power had disintegrated, destroying every last demon in the area and leaving the Hellmouth nothing more than a hole in the ground buried deep under the debris of the school.

Faith liked to tease Buffy. The girl just couldn't stop destroying things. And that school had been re-built too, not even a full year old before Buffy had demolished it.

Buffy liked to remind her that it was not _her_ that had destroyed the school, but it was the same thing in Faith's mind.

She stretched again happily before tucking one arm under her head and draping the other over Willow's bare shoulders.

"It is hard to sleep when my pillow keeps moving," Willow muttered, head resting against Faith shoulder.

"Sorry," she said easily, letting a hand run through Willow's red locks. "Just feel good."

Willow shifted, rolling onto her stomach so she could lift her head and peer sleepily at Faith. "Feel good later, when it isn't sleep time."

"We need to be up soon."

Willow huffed and settled back down, head going right back to its spot against Faith. "The sun isn't even up yet," she yawned.

"Red, sunrise was a few hours ago."

"I can pretend, can't I?" she giggled.

Faith smirked, "Sure thing."

They lay quietly together for a little while, Willow dozing and Faith content to close her eyes and bask in the peacefulness. Eventually though, as was habit, Willow's brain, now that it was awake, began whirling even if her body was still half asleep.

"So," Willow said, sounding more awake. "You feel good? You keep stretching. That was what woke me up."

"Mmm," Faith agreed. "A little sore. But I feel good."

"Buffy wore you out at training yesterday?"

"No," Faith barked out, "More like you wore me out last night."

She could practically hear Willow's smirk. "But aren't you the one with the Slayer stamina?" she asked innocently.

"Shut up," Faith laughed, tugging Willow close and then rolling them, so she was draped over top of the witch. Faith's dark hair hung down, brushing against Willow's pale shoulders. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself," Willow smiled.

Faith dipped her head down to kiss Willow's forehead and then her nose, simply happy to enjoy the feeling of Willow's skin against hers.

"What, no good morning kiss?"

Faith rolled her eyes before lifting a hand, cupping Willow's face and bringing their lips together for a lazy good morning kiss, just like Willow asked for each morning.

With the Hellmouth officially devoid of any demon life and Sunnydale still in the works of rebuilding itself, the Scoobies and their band of new Slayers had relocated. As per Giles' insistence, they were now in Cleveland, watching over a another Hellmouth and training the new girls. Properly this time, not quick and rushed like they had in the Summers' backyard.

The mansion was massive. Since Giles was now one of the few remaining members of the Council, since most had either been killed by the Bringers or by Caleb when he'd blown up the headquarters, he had taken charge. He had stepped in to begin repairing and rebuilding the Council, and that meant he had a hell of a lot of cash on hand.

Faith had been living in a fucking dingy-ass motel just a few short years ago, while the Council members were practically rolling in money.

Dawn had been the one to pick out the mansion, insisting it was close enough to the Hellmouth for them to keep a close watch on it, but far enough away from the nearest houses that they would have a little privacy. The fact that the property that went with the house was enormous didn't hurt.

It was slow goings. They were still working on getting it the way they wanted it, with Buffy's goal of it becoming a kind of school, where they could teach all the girls Willow had awoken how to use their powers properly and for good and all that.

The fact that it had a gym the size of the now demolished Sunnydale High School, and indoor-outdoor pool, and that she and Willow had their own room at the end of the hall were all that Faith really cared about.

And the kitchen. They had a very nice kitchen. Sure, Andrew had taken over as their resident chef until they found someone proper, but she had to hand it to the guy, he sure could cook.

She let her tongue brush against Willow's, enjoying the feeling of Willow's hand running through her hair. Only when she heard Willow let out a moan did she pull back, kissing her lips quickly once more before dropping back down to lay next to the redhead.

Willow's hand continued to play with her hair, threading the dark strands through her fingers.

"Red?" Faith asked after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"I can hear those wheels in your head turning, you know. What's up?"

Willow giggled, "Nothing, it's nothing. I've just been wondering something lately."

Faith sighed and shook her head when Willow didn't elaborate, "Yeah? And, what is it?"

"It's about you and your sister."

Faith smiled, rolling so she was on her side, propped up on her elbow. She smiled down at the redhead, "Okay, shoot."

"I've been wondering it for a while lately, since Sunnydale. But I didn't really know how to ask and it never really came up on its own, so I didn't know if I should ask you or not."

Faith gave an easy smile, letting her foot rub gently up and down Willow's calf. "Okay."

"Well," Willow began, and Faith just knew this was going to turn into a babble. "You two are twins, right?" Faith nodded. "So, twins are usually similar in everything. And you are, I mean clearly you look alike. But, well, Daniela and Faith." She frowned a little bit, "They don't exactly, well, they don't really go together, as far as twin names go. How did your mother come up with them?"

Faith let her leg still, not expecting the redhead's question at all. She never really talked about her name with people. Hell, she never really talked about her mother with people. Dawn was good at prying things out of her, and she talked with Willow sometimes, late at night in the dark when Willow couldn't see the pain on her face, only hear it in her voice.

She looked at Willow, who was waiting patiently for an answer. She sighed, offering, "Daniela Hope, that's Dani's full name."

Then she dropped back down, tugging Willow against her so they were back the way they normally lay, Faith flat on her back with an arm around the other girl, Willow curled up against her with her head on Faith's shoulder.

Willow stayed quiet a moment longer, and Faith assumed what she'd said had satisfied her enough. She listened to Willow's even breathing, the slight slip of the sheets when one of them shifted, and was content to doze until they really needed to get up – when Buffy began banging on their door, yelling about them sleeping in.

"Faith is your middle name?" Willow asked after a long moment, curiosity evident in her voice.

"Yep," Faith replied.

When it was clear Faith wasn't going to offer any more, Willow asked, "Well, what's your first name?"

"Nope."

Willow giggled, "Faith, tell me, please."

"Nope," Faith said, holding back a smile, "No way."

Willow poked her in the side, laughing as Faith squirmed, "Faith."

"Willow," she said, batting the witch's hand away, "No."

"Come on."

"No."

"Why?" Willow laughed, snuggling further into her, wrapping an arm around Faith's middle.

Faith sighed, knowing she was going to give in. Even if she couldn't see the redhead's Resolve Face, Faith was hopeless when Willow wanted something.

She would not admit to Dawn that she was whipped, no matter what the younger brunette insisted.

"My mother called me by that," she said slowly. "By my full name. Only her. I didn't… I hated it." She sighed, "I hated the way she said my name. Dani, she always called me by my middle name, so after our mother… it just stuck."

Willow snuggled closer, her voice gentle, "I'm not asking because I want to call you by it," she said after a moment, "I just want to know."

"Red."

"I love you. You can trust me," Willow said, beginning to draw patterns on the skin of Faith's stomach, fully healed from the battle months ago.

_Jesus, she knows exactly what to say,_ Faith though, feeling her heart melt a little bit.

Faith lay still for a long while, letting her mind wander with thoughts of the redhead. She did trust Willow, she trusted Willow with everything she had and every night, when Willow fell asleep in her arms, Faith knew trusting her was the right thing.

"Isabel," she answered, head tipped to watch Willow's reaction.

"Hmm?" Willow mumbled, obviously slipping back into slumber when Faith didn't answer fast enough.

"Isabel Faith, that's my full name."

Willow shifted in her arms, moving so she could kiss the skin she had been leaning on. She felt Willow smile against her as she worked her way up to Faith's lips, kissing them for a long moment. "That's nice," she said, pulling back and smiling at her. "I'd say pretty, but I'm afraid you'd pinch me."

Faith laughed, arm quickly moving to pinch the redhead's side anyway.

"Faith!" Willow squealed, swatting her hands away. "That wasn't an invitation, you know," she said sternly.

Faith smirked, "Yeah. I know."

Willow just rolled her eyes in response. But her face became somber when she spoke again, her voice serious, "You aren't her, okay? Just because she called you that, doesn't mean she can define who you are."

"Yeah," Faith said half-heartedly.

Willow leaned over to kiss her temple, "I like Faith better," she said, kissing down along her neck before sighing happily and getting comfy again.

"Yeah?" Faith repeated, this time curious.

Willow nodded against her. "Mmm, yes. Faith. You're hard, sharp some of the time." She giggled softly, "Most of the time. But there's still a softness," she explained, arm draping back over Faith's stomach. "There's still…"

She paused, and Faith waited patiently until Willow sorted her thoughts and continued. "Isabel is just… just a name you have. But Faith is who you are. Strength. Courage. Trust. Those words don't just define the word faith, they define you."

Faith kissed Willow's hair as she continued, "Faith. It means confidence or trust in a person, belief in something not based on proof. Loyalty to something. That's you. For me, that's you."

Faith felt her heart squeeze inside her chest with Willows words, with the knowledge that Willow saw her that way. "Damn, you're perfect, Red," Faith laughed. "You're such a sap, but you're prefect."

Willow giggled, hugging Faith around her middle, "I love you, too."

"Sap."

"Hmm," she yawned, "Maybe I'll tell Dawnie about this Isabel business."

"You're evil."

"I'm a badass, Faith, badass."

"I'm wearing off on you."

"Yep."

"Knew I shouldn't have said anything."

"You just can't resist my feminine wiles."

"If you say so, Red."

"I do say so. That's why I said it."

"Go back to sleep until Buffy comes and yells at us."

"Okay."

"Okay."

_Fin._


End file.
